Geico Signs Three-Year Deal To Title Chicagoland Speedway's Fall Cup Race

Geico has signed a "three-year deal to title sponsor Chicagoland Speedway’s fall NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race," the first race of the Chase for the Sprint Cup, according to Tripp Mickle of SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. The agreement marks the "first time the company has ever done a title-rights agreement in any sport." Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but "race title sponsorships typically sell for around $1 million a year." Sources said that the Geico deal is "backloaded so that the company would pay less this year and more in the final two years of the deal," which includes marketing and promotional commitments. The partnership is Geico's second this year with ISC, following a "five-year, seven-track sponsorship at ISC-owned campsites." Mickle notes the race sponsorship "extends Geico’s spending in sports." It is the "leading sports spender in the insurance category," and has increased its sports spending by 30% in '10 to $216M (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 6/27 issue).