Drive For Show: NASCAR HOF Opens Its Doors With Nine Sponsors

Lowe's Is One Of NASCAR HOF's Nine Sponsors At Opening

The NASCAR HOF officially opened this morning with nine sponsors on board. In addition to the previously announced Lowe's, NASCAR Performance Group, Food Lion and M&M's, the HOF has recently added Belk, Bank of America, Wells Fargo (formerly Wachovia), Panasonic and Sunoco. Charlotte-based Belk, the nation's largest privately held department store chain with more than 300 stores, will title sponsor the High Octane Theater near the HOF's entrance. Bank of America and Wells Fargo are also lending partners to the HOF, which owes the banks a combined $20M. Sponsorship revenue has been designated to repay the loans. Aside from the brands in the NASCAR Performance Group, M&M's, Bank of America and Sunoco are the only official partners of NASCAR to sign on. The HOF's opening activities began this morning in the plaza just outside the entrance. Driver appearances, concerts and autograph sessions will highlight the free activities outside the Hall throughout today. Among the NASCAR dignitaries expected to attend are NASCAR Chair & CEO Brian France, NASCAR President Mike Helton, team owners Rick Hendrick and Richard Childress, and current drivers Kurt Busch, Greg Biffle, Kasey Kahne and more. The induction ceremony for the first class (Bill France Sr., Bill France Jr., Dale Earnhardt, Richard Petty and Junior Johnson) will be May 23 (Michael Smith, SportsBusiness Journal).

A GRAND ENTRANCE: SCENEDAILY.com's Bob Pockrass wrote the 150,000-square-foot facility "should have no problem attracting people during the first year." While the HOF spans four floors, "not everything the hall of fame has acquired will be on display when the doors open." HOF Exec Dir Winston Kelley said, "We'll keep changing exhibits out. Glory Road (with vintage cars) will change every couple of years. ... The artifacts will change out every three to four months. And we'll have new (inductees) on an annual basis." Pockrass noted the city of Charlotte "will not owe NASCAR money until a year after it opens, and all royalties are deferred until the hall of fame shows a positive cash flow." NASCAR Managing Dir of Licensed Products Blake Davidson: "To the extent the hall of fame makes money and is profitable, then NASCAR participates in that. All our payments are deferred until that point in time. This was about building the right facility that appropriately honors the history of the sport and honors those inducted" (SCENEDAILY.com, 5/10).

MEMORY LANE: In DC, Liz Clarke writes the "scale of the 150,000-square-foot complex, which gobbles up five acres of prime commercial real estate, is testament to NASCAR's emergence as a major league sport." Employing the "business model of its founding France family, NASCAR got the showplace built with no investment of its own by orchestrating a bidding war among cities for the privilege of constructing it" (WASHINGTON POST, 5/11). ESPN's David Newton said, "If you're not wowed by your first trip through 150,000 square feet of memorabilia and interactive games honoring the history of the sport, you aren't a true NASCAR fan." Sporting News' Matt Crossman said, "What I liked: The unvarnished view of the history of the sport" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 5/11).

NASCAR HOF's 150,000-Square-Foot Complex Takes Up Five Acres Of Prime Commercial Real Estate In Downtown Charlotte