I guess I'm ignorant, please educate if able... (2 Viewers)

[Gordon]

So I'm relaxing in my home yesterday watching football until the race comes on later in the day and a thought occurred to me as I watched seemingly hundreds of commercials...

Why does NHRA tie their hands, and more importantly the hands of their race teams, by allowing corporations to purchase exclusivity rights in the form of "Official Sponsor of the NHRA" packages? As we've seen time and again, this reduces the number of major corporations that might be interested in sponsoring cars, thus creating on track competition like we used to see with the Beer Wars, Tool Car Wars, etc.?

I know it's been debated ad nauseum, but I watched commercials for Pizza Hut, Dominos & Papa Johns ALL DURING THE SAME FOOTBALL GAME! Additionally, I saw ads for competing car companies during the same game (Lexus, Buick, Hyundai, etc.). No exclusivity at all - it would appear that they were all given equal opportunity to purchase air time during the game(s). I would think that if NHRA opened the doors to that type of free-market competition it would benefit everyone, no?

Now I'm the first to admit that I'm NOT a marketing expert, but I do understand that competition is ALWAYS beneficial to the consumer, so why does NHRA all but prevent it by tying the hands of potential sponsors? Can anyone explain? Or am I just a complete idiot who doesn't get it?

 

[none]

NHRA does NOT control the adds in the show. NFL doesn't either. The network sells adds to whoever they want. NFL Does have official sponsors just as NHRA does.

Alan

 

[clwill]

You're talking about two different things. "Official Pizza of the NHRA" is one thing, advertising on the telecast is another. The former prevents on-site marketing, prevents more that one pizza company from sponsoring a car, and so on. The latter is wide open. ESPN sells the airtime, and I bet if Pepsi wanted to run ads during the Full Throttle broadcasts, ESPN would happily take their money.

I think the observational evidence is that whatever the NHRA has set the price for exclusivity to be, it's too low. Every sponsor appears to be exclusive -- seems like its just a checkbox on the contract: check here for exclusivity, pay just 10% more. if you're going to shut out all other competitors, I would think that's worth a 2-3X premium.

No, I haven't seen the contract, but have you seen a new NHRA sponsor In the last 10 years that wasn't the "Official something" of the NHRA? As you note, pretty much rules out the beer wars and other fun rivalries.

 

[Gordon]

Okay, that makes more sense. Like I said, I'm not a marketing expert and I figured someone on here could help.

I agree with you though, Chris, it seems like every new sponsor (no matter how big or small) seems to be the official sponsor (in their marketing field) of the NHRA, thus eliminating any competition - which, to me, seems ignorant. There has to be a better way...

 

[jackass]

Who advertises during the events tv broacasts depends on.. one how many people are watching.... two who is watching and does it meet a companys target audience,, and three do they have a vested interest in the sport being aired.. that meets all forms of sport being aired.. stick and ball to motorsports to compeditive eating....

 

[Von Halen]

I saw somebody hand that horrible "Energy Drink" back in exchange for a water as soon as they were done with the interview, last night. I wonder how many drivers really drink that crap on a regular basis. Those cans are probably empty when they show them chugging them after they get done talking.

My Son's hockey coach (an Orthopedic surgeon) banned his team from drinking those things.

I think they should let anybody that wants to sponsor, sponsor. It is a competition, just like the race is.

 

[Bullard Anderson]

Offical "blank" of the NHRA holds no value on who can or cannot sponsor a team. Official oil, tractor, car, truck, whatever? Series title sponsor seems to be the only determing factor on who can and cannot put the competing name on a car.

Becoming an "official" restaurant, oil, airline, whatever does mean that a sanctioning body (NHRA, or NASCAR) is getting money from a potential sponsor and it's not going to the team, or the money to the team it sponsors seems to be reduced in bulk.

NASCAR was the first to catch grief over this when they appeared to be the better option than a sponsor putting it's name on a car for $12million for a full season. I was one of the first to baste NASCAR for doing this. I have since realized and come to the conclusion that its just foolishness and owner greed that it would take $20million bucks to race a car for a year. Owners in NASCAR backed their own A$$ into a corner and the economy bit them. But, heck they've made their money.

 

[Gordon]

Offical "blank" of the NHRA holds no value on who can or cannot sponsor a team. Official oil, tractor, car, truck, whatever? Series title sponsor seems to be the only determing factor on who can and cannot put the competing name on a car.

I'm not sure I completely agree, but the exchange of information is informative.

It's my understanding that Kenny Bernstein was fined, or was threatened to be fined because the Monster girls were "outside the ropes" of his pit area handing out freebies and it was in violation of their contract since it was a Full Throttle (or maybe still POWERade) series.

Additonally, and slightly different I know, other Armed Forces are more than welcome to sponsor race cars, but what they can and cannot do at the track in terms of recruiting - which is, of course, the point, is extremely limited because of the U.S. Army's contract agreement. I'm sure there are other examples, but those jump to mind.

So back to my original point - why allow a contract that essentially prevents other sponsors from wanting to join the fray?

 

[Bullard Anderson]

Gordon, you are probably correct with the Monster gals. But like I stated, series sponsor dictates all.

I would only hope that with Mello Yello coming on board in 2013 that the NHRA will not be short sighted, or Coca Cola Bottling Company will not be so demanding as to say that all of the Coke products have a no compete exception. Maybe with Mello Yello as the title sponsor that will open the door for energy drinks or even Gatorade to come back into the sport.

Prestone is official coolant but Peak is on Zizzo's car
Fram is official filter but Napa Filters have been on RC's car
Lucas Oil is official oil but you have Valvoline, Castrol, Red Line etc. on cars.

NHRA only cares about the Title sponsor of the Series.

It NHRA being an official sponsor and sponsoring a car seem to be very economically beneficial to the sponsor. In Sprint Cup, where the cost are stupidly way to high, budgets are squezzed. Teams feel the pain.

 

[Gordon]

Those are valid points, Steve. I'm just an average joe trying to gain a little knowledge... I suppose if I thought about it a little I'd have seen that, but it's more fun to discuss and gain different views.

Thanks!

 

[SundayNiagara]

Pepsi signs were on the Worsham's trailers long after Coke/Powerade came aboard. When I asked Chuck about it, he told me NHRA tried to force him to take the signs off, but he resisted and NHRA backed down.

 

[andujar]

I saw somebody hand that horrible "Energy Drink" back in exchange for a water as soon as they were done with the interview, last night. I wonder how many drivers really drink that crap on a regular basis. Those cans are probably empty when they show them chugging them after they get done talking.

My Son's hockey coach (an Orthopedic surgeon) banned his team from drinking those things.

I think they should let anybody that wants to sponsor, sponsor. It is a competition, just like the race is.

It was Allen Johnson after Pro Stock semi-final I believe......

 

[Raconteur]

Offical "blank" of the NHRA holds no value on who can or cannot sponsor a team. Official oil, tractor, car, truck, whatever? Series title sponsor seems to be the only determing factor on who can and cannot put the competing name on a car.

Goodyear Tires in the Professional Ranks.

 

[Ma Green]

If you think the current 'energy drink' tastes bad, wait until you taste Mello Yellow! That has to be the worst marketing move ever made by NHRA. Since when does "Mello" and drag racing go together. Can't wait to see the advertising for this deal!

However, on a positive note....the best drag racing ad ever made has to be the Tequila Petrone ad for responsible drinking. It's priceless and really gets the message across.

 

[DrRocket]

If you think the current 'energy drink' tastes bad, wait until you taste Mello Yellow! That has to be the worst marketing move ever made by NHRA.........

I don't think this move was driven by the NHRA, I think the impetus for this came from the Coca Cola Co.

However, on a positive note....the best drag racing ad ever made has to be the Tequila Petrone ad for responsible drinking. It's priceless and really gets the message across.

Dude!! You're talking to a poster!!

 

[jackass]

HTe Mello Yello switch for the NHRA is part of a bigger push by Coke to promote and increase sales of Mello Yello across the board... i've noticed alot more billboards poping up with Mello Yello on them lately also... and there was a time when MY out sold Mt Dew... Late 80's thru the early 90's i believe... coke pushed MY pretty hard then... primary sponsor on Kyle Pettys pontiac in Cup and sponsored a couple Cup races.. my guess is MT Dew on Jrs car has increased sales .. and dented what ever percentage of the market My had... so its time to promote again....

 

[Mike]

#88-Dale Earnhardt Jr. won't have Diet Mountain Dew as a sponsor for as many races in 2013 as he did in 2012, but he's not worried about Hendrick Motorsports finding sponsors for those races. NASCAR's most popular driver will have sponsorship from the Army National Guard for 20 races next year and Diet Mountain Dew for an unspecified number. Mountain Dew sponsored 16 races this year while another Pepsi product, Amp, sponsored four. The National Guard had 18 races this year. Earnhardt is not worried about having an unsponsored car at Hendrick. The organization has had Hendrickcars.com on Kasey Kahne's car for select races this year when it didn't sell sponsorships. "We have more demand than we have supply pretty much," Earnhardt said. "We've got a majority of the season with the Guard and Diet Mountain Dew is going to back off a little bit and that makes it a bit of a challenge to fill that small of a gap. If it were a bit larger gap, it would be easier to fill."(Sporting News)(9-1

 

[Toejam]

If you think the current 'energy drink' tastes bad, wait until you taste Mello Yellow! That has to be the worst marketing move ever made by NHRA. Since when does "Mello" and drag racing go together. Can't wait to see the advertising for this deal!

However, on a positive note....the best drag racing ad ever made has to be the Tequila Petrone ad for responsible drinking. It's priceless and really gets the message across.

Does he product matter, or the Decimal point?

 

[Gordon]

Does he product matter, or the Decimal point?

Depends on one's perspective, Joe... but I suspect you knew that.

 

[Toejam]

Depends on one's perspective, Joe... but I suspect you knew that.

LOL....well I'm sure Trojan Condoms or Vogue magazine would cause a stir...lol