Outgoing CSM Sport & Entertainment CEO Zak Brown said that any new NASCAR Cup Series title sponsorship deal will "not be as lucrative" as the pact it currently has with Sprint "given the current market climate," according to Brant James of USA TODAY. Nextel signed a 10-year, $750M deal to become title sponsor beginning in '04 [Sprint in later years bought Nextel]. Brown said that NASCAR has a "few real contenders" for a new deal, but the governing body "shouldn't rush to complete a deal" in time for the '17 season. Brown: "For them to rush into a bad long-term deal wouldn't make any sense. So they'd be better off just continuing to look. And if that means that this year they go without one and it costs them $40-$50 million, they can afford it." NASCAR COO Brent Dewar said that securing a deal before the end of the '16 season is "not an issue at all." However, he added that a company new to the sport "would likely want or require more time to engage." James writes though NASCAR officials "won't publicly discuss their potential terms," $1B over 10 years was an "often-quoted starting point in the industry when the process began" in '14. Dewar said that it is NASCAR's "'lead strategy' to secure one sponsor." But Brown said that he "believes the series would consider splitting a sponsorship over various parts of the season, including one for the regular season and one for the Chase" (USA TODAY, 10/17).
CHANGE IS COMING: SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL's Adam Stern in August noted NASCAR has "told racetracks and media partners to prepare for the possibility that the new deal could look considerably different than Sprint’s." That means the new sponsor "could buy fewer track assets as well as reducing television advertising." Some of that money "could shift to digital and social media, or if it’s a more business-to-business-focused company, hospitality and unique access assets" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 8/1 issue).
