Underscoring the national appeal of the Daytona 500, Cincinnati-based supermarket chain Kroger this morning announced
that it has extended its deal with ISC and Daytona Int’l Speedway despite the fact that it continues to have no stores in Florida. The renewal, which DIS President Joie Chitwood III said is for multiple years but is shorter than the 10- to 15-year deals the track has gotten for Daytona Rising founding partnerships, grants the company presenting-sponsorship rights to Daytona 500 qualifying day; IP rights to use DIS marks in in-store activations; signage and promo space at the track; and hospitality assets. As part of the deal, Kroger will also get signage assets at eight other ISC tracks: Chicagoland, Darlington, Homestead-Miami, Martinsville, Michigan, Richmond, Talladega and Watkins Glen. Chitwood said Kroger, which also is the primary sponsor of JTG Daugherty’s No. 47 Sprint Cup Series Chevy driven by AJ Allmendinger, will have the dozens of consumer packaged good companies involved with its motorsports program use the DIS marks nationwide in order to leverage the deal in stores. He added of the relationship that will now span a half century, “There’s so much buy-in from the consumer brands; that’s why we’ve been able to extend it the past couple go-rounds, because it works. The numbers bear it out: It moves product; the packaging is fantastic; (and) it’s a great platform for us in terms of promotion.”
