The loss of Lowe's surprised the industry because of its longtime NASCAR connectionGETTY IMAGES
NASCAR COO Steve Phelps said that the impending departures of Lowe's and 5-hour Energy have "shaped a skewed perception that the sport is suffering from sponsorship woes," according to Dan Gelston of the AP. Instead, Phelps "offered bullish assurances on the health of sponsors in NASCAR." Phelps said, "People tend to focus on, 'Oh my gosh, Sponsor A has left and Sponsor B left.' For us, it's OK, C, D, E and F also came on board as brand new sponsors." Gelston noted the losses of Lowe's and 5-hour Energy "surprised the industry because of their longtime connections to NASCAR." The exodus of "top-flight corporate sponsors -- paired with sagging TV ratings, dwindling attendance and complaints about a tired schedule -- have buried the sport in bad news." But despite all that, NASCAR said that 28% of Fortune 500 companies have "invested in the sport" in '18. Phelps: "It's a lot sexier to talk about a Lowe's or a 5-hour Energy leaving. Somehow, the dozen companies that come into this sport are not talked about as much. It's kind of how this industry works. I would like to see the industry be positive because there are so many positive things going on." Phelps added that dozens of new companies "signed up in some form" in '18 and the sponsor pipeline for '19 is "'bigger and wider and better than it's ever been before'" (AP, 7/29).
PERCEPTION OR REALITY? YAHOO SPORTS' Nick Bromberg noted Phelps' comments "line up with a talking points email that was sent to various outlets that cover NASCAR ... in the days after 5-Hour Energy’s announcement" that it was leaving. That email noted that companies like Wyndham, John Deere, ITSaavy and Worldwide Technology are "entering NASCAR." Or in the case of John Deere, "re-entering the sponsor realm after a long absence." That is "undeniably true." But it is also "undeniably true that the number of races that those four companies are sponsoring wouldn’t amount to a full slate of 36 races if they were all for the same team." The adage that quantity "doesn’t equal quality is extremely applicable here." If sponsors like Lowe’s, 5-Hour and Target "weren’t leaving, NASCAR wouldn’t be left grasping to tout extensions by companies like Shell and FedEx" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 7/29).
TAKE A GANDER: NASCAR has revealed the new logo of the Gander Outdoors Truck Series, which will be the new name next year of what is currently the Camping World Truck Series. NASCAR made the announcement yesterday around the Monster Energy Series Gander Outdoors 400 at Pocono Raceway alongside Marcus Lemonis, who owns both Gander Outdoors and Camping World. Lemonis bought and rebranded Gander Outdoors last year and is trying to market the company heavily right now, which led to him working with Phelps to rebrand NASCAR's third-tier national series starting in '19 (Adam Stern, Staff Writer).
