AT&T Broadband and Motorola have been designated the
Official Telecom Companies of NASCAR. The deal allows both
companies to develop trade and consumer ads, promos and PR
around their NASCAR ties. With the deal, NASCAR now has 34
official corporate sponsors (NASCAR). The SPORTSBUSINESS
JOURNAL's Andy Bernstein notes that MCI WorldCom's NASCAR
deal expired at the end of '99. While terms of the new deal
were not disclosed, sources told Bernstein that NASCAR has
been negotiating with AT&T Broadband "since last summer,
pitching what several called NASCAR's most lucrative
sponsorship package ever" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 2/21).
WHAT'S NOT TO LYC-OS? In Richmond, Rea McLeroy reported
that Lycos "announced an estimated" $6M sponsorship deal
with the Tim Beverley-owned No. 10 Pontiac driven by Johnny
Benson for the 2000 Winston Cup season (RICHMOND TIMES-
DISPATCH, 2/21). During CBS' broadcast of Sunday's Daytona
500, Ned Jarrett said Benson "came to Daytona without any
writing on that car, just a plain white vanilla car. But
with the qualifying run he had [and] his performance in the
125-mile qualifying race, [he landed] a sponsorship deal
from the Lycos people, and we understand it's for the year"
(CBS, 2/20). Lycos Dir of Promotions Jim Hoenscheid said
the company "received more than" $10M in measured TV
exposure during its first foray into NASCAR -- a sponsorship
of driver Matt Kenseth in the '98 BGN season (Lycos).
HOLIGAN'S NASCAR DEBUT: Michael Holigan discussed the
benefits of his real estate company's sponsorship deal of
the Hendrick Motorsports No. 25 Chevy driven by Jerry
Nadeau: "This year I'm going to entertain 4,000 builders and
they're going to represent almost 200,000 housing starts
across the nation." Holigan said Hendricks "immediately
tried to justify" the sponsorship price of $10-12M "by
explaining how the money would be spent." Holigan: "But one
of my partners, who is a part-owner in the Texas Rangers,
turned to me and said, 'Hey, that's what we pay a mediocre
pitcher.' With this new TV deal, I can already see that
we'll be getting a return on our investment and I predict
that, before the end of my three-year sponsorship, I will
start a two-car team" (BOSTON GLOBE, 2/20). CBS' Phil
Stevens reported that Nadeau bought a house during the
offseason and "had to put a new roof on it. His sponsor,
Michael Holigan, videotaped the whole thing and put it on
his local home improvement show" ("Daytona 500," CBS, 2/20).
DIDN'T WORK IN SC: Before Saturday's SC GOP primary,
U.S. Senator John McCain appeared at the NASCAR Cafe in
Myrtle Beach and wore a NASCAR Cafe jacket (NBC, 2/19).
