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Marketing and Sponsorship

Smithfield Foods, Richard Petty Motorsports Agree On Three-Year Extension For No. 43 Car

Smithfield Foods and Richard Petty Motorsports yesterday announced a three-year extension through the '16 NASCAR season. The company and its family of brands, including Eckrich, Farmland, Gwaltney, Nathan's and Smithfield, will return as primary sponsors of Aric Almirola's No. 43 Sprint Cup Series entry for 29 races in '14. That figure is up from 15 events in '12 and 25 last year (RPM). FORBES.com's Darren Heitner noted Smithfield as part of the deal will "increase its investment" in RPM by 50% throughout the term of the agreement. This will "serve as significant funding" for RPM, which has "experienced an increase of 20% or more in revenue over the past year, but consistently relies on sponsorship to keep its race team afloat." Smithfield CEO Larry Pope said, "The relationship today is going to be six-times the size of our initial relationship" (FORBES.com, 1/15). The AP noted the increased involvement from Smithfield "has the company signed on for all but seven races of the 38-race schedule -- a coup for RPM at a time when sponsorships are often being divided between multiple companies." Smithfield was sold to Chinese company Shuanghui Int'l Holdings in a deal "finalized in September." Pope said of RPM sponsorship, "I believe it is the right way to communicate to our consumers. My new owners have no issue with this at all and are 100 percent supportive. They were overwhelmed by the fans and the people and the activity, and they didn't realize the attraction and the connection between racing and the brand." Pope said that Smithfield has "seen double-digit increases in sales in areas where it runs promotions connected with the RPM and Almirola sponsorship" (AP, 1/15).

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

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