Phoenix Raceway has mutually agreed to terminate its track naming-rights deal with ISM Connect, an early but not entirely surprising end to their relationship. ISM Connect, a digital sign advertising company, signed on as naming-rights partner of the venue in '17 with a 10-year deal that began the following year and was valued in the low seven figures annually. It is unclear what ISM will have to pay to exit the agreement with eight years remaining. The track currently has no plans to take the naming rights back to the market. NASCAR for the first time will hold its season-ending races in all three national series at the track this November. ISM first got into the sport in '16, when it came on as the new sponsor and provider of the large Vision screens around NASCAR tracks that venues use to both show live action as well as messaging and advertising. It eventually decided to step up to the naming-rights role with the track, but industry execs at the time were surprised by the deal because ISM is a B2B company with little need for brand awareness. ISM Connect is expected to stay in the sport as the provider of the digital screens at tracks (Adam Stern, THE DAILY).
KEEPING MOSTLY STATUS QUO: Phoenix Raceway President Julie Giese said that there will be "no noticeable changes in spectator amenities" with the restructured partnership. In Phoenix, Michael Knight reported ISM's name also will "no longer be on one of the track's two 'Canyons' entrances." Sources said that ISM was to "pay an annual single-figure, million-dollar fee" beginning in '18, with an "investment that could have approached" $100M in total value over 10 years. Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., is now the "only track hosting NASCAR's premier Cup Series to have a corporate identity" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 1/4).
