Amid NASCAR’s effort "to court younger fans, Nickelodeon has struck an agreement for title sponsorship of the May Sprint Cup race at Kansas Speedway and plans to sponsor multiple teams in the Sprint Cup and Camping World Truck series," according to Adam Stern in this week's SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. The May 9 Sprint Cup race "will become the SpongeBob SquarePants 400 in a one-year deal with Nickelodeon, though the network has an option to renew." Nickelodeon CMO Pamela Kaufman said that the company "agreed to the sponsorships because it has an established relationship with NASCAR and because the network has made a push into sports the last two years." The race title sponsorship "is not Nickelodeon’s first in NASCAR," as it "titled the SpongeBob SquarePants Movie 300 Busch Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway" in '04. Nickelodeon also "plans to sponsor teams during both the Kansas weekend and at points throughout the season," though net execs "would not reveal which teams or races" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 3/2 issue). In K.C., Pete Grathoff wrote, "It’s going to be fun to hear the Fox Sports 1 announcers saying the words 'SpongeBob SquarePants' all night" (KANSASCITY.com, 3/2). YAHOO SPORTS' Nick Bromberg wrote, "If you really do think the name is ridiculous, let us present to you the 2014 Brickyard 400, which was referred to as the Crown Royal Presents the John Wayne Walding 400 at the Brickyard Powered by BigMachineRecords.com." That name is "infinitely more ridiculous than the fairly-succinct Kansas race title" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 3/2).
