The "push to find a new sponsor" for NASCAR driver Danica Patrick is underway, but the next few months "will say a lot about NASCAR's health if one of its most marketable drivers has trouble landing a new corporate backer," according to Viv Bernstein of the N.Y. TIMES. GoDaddy last month announced it would not renew its primary sponsorship of Patrick's No. 10 Chevy, and there was "more than a little consternation" with the decision among NASCAR execs, as it "leaves a critical drawing card without the financing to race next season." NASCAR Exec VP & CMO Steve Phelps "huddled with officials at Stewart-Haas last week to go over data that demonstrate Patrick’s fan appeal." Only Dale Earnhardt Jr., and perhaps Jeff Gordon, "have the same marketing reach" as Patrick. She ranks second in Repucom’s NASCAR driver celebrity ratings, behind only Earnhardt. Also, Patrick has 1.22 million Twitter followers, more combined than her three SHR teammates "who have won Cup championships: Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch and Kevin Harvick." Bernstein notes the data "will be presented to potential corporate sponsors in the coming months; the team probably has until the fall to find a taker in order to ramp up a new marketing campaign by the season-opening Daytona 500 in February." Phelps said, "We’re not overly concerned about it. Because of her marketability, because she attracts those within Nascar and outside of the Nascar world, there absolutely is going to be a brand out there that would love to sponsor her car." Performance on the track "is not how Patrick is measured or sold to sponsors" (N.Y. TIMES, 5/22). Patrick said her team has a "lot of time to find sponsors" before next season. Patrick: "I have great agents and people working around me. They take care of really everything off the track. To be honest, if things go well on the track, the rest of it gets so much easier. I just have to focus on driving well, being smart, finishing well and doing a good job to make their lives a lot easier" (“SportsCenter,” ESPN, 5/21).
I SAW THE SIGN: ESPN.com's Bob Pockrass reported Comcast has picked Patrick "to be its first driver for its 'sign my tweet' program, in which fans are asked to tweet a celebrity asking for an autograph." Comcast chooses 400 tweets and "prints each of them on poster-sized sheets of paper." The celebrity "signs each one, which is sent to the fan who sent the tweet." NFL Giants WR Odell Beckham, Jr. and Pro Football HOFer Emmitt Smith previously have participated in the campaign. Comcast Senior Dir of Sports Brand Marketing Matt Lederer said of Patrick, "You can tell that she's trying to connect with her fans in a natural way" (ESPN.com, 5/20).
