View on NHRA Sponsorship (1 Viewer)

[Sean D, shondoo]

Just to clarify, being an "Official Partner of NHRA" does not close the door on competing sponsors. The Series Sponsor Mello Yello get's exclusivity, they are the only one.

A couple of examples.
Toyota is the Official Car of NHRA. Chevrolet, Ford and Dodge all have a Very Big presence in the pits and the sport.
Lucas is the Official Oil, but Pennzoil sponsors cars, teams, and races. Red Line and others are also heavily involved
Summit is the Official Mail Order, but JEGS is everywhere.

That's just a few,

Alan

Personally, I don't think even Mello Yello should get exclusivity. Like David pointed out, as title rights sponsor, they're going to get the lion's share of the exposure anyway, as they should. I would also echo his statement regarding the quality of one's product being good enough to not fear, but welcome competition. Especially if that competition could result in more competitor participation and lead to more fans in the stands and watching on television. Competition fosters better products to start with, but that's a completely different discussion. But to exclude other beverage companies from possibly coming in and backing a team or two doesn't make any sense to me. Not in this climate.

They hit the nail square on the head with the demographic, as far as I'm concerned. The current crop of younger fans really should be attracted to this sport as the data appears to suggest. So I would have to agree that something is certainly wrong/broken. Communication is key, no matter if you're talking about relationships with your kids, boss, spouse or whatever. Those hard conversations HAVE to happen in order to be successful. And those conversations always go much better when they're sooner than later. The longer you let anything fester, the worse it gets.

To say egos are involved is to say the surface of the sun is hot. Hopefully both sides can park their respective egos soon and the key players can nut-up and have that hard conversation for the betterment of the sport.

Sean D

 

[mick]

lets say your average nat. event reaches 700k fans. 600k via fox networks. 50k live attendance. 50k via online content and misc. other......700 x 24 events = 17m fans & viewers annually.
that number has to have a value ....... i.e. a fortune 500 company will reach optimistically 18-20m fans annually; and that is worth how much? IMO it is not $3-4m or wouldn't we have
sponsors beating down the doors? wouldn't tony schumacher have had a new sponsor by the fall of 2018? ...... seems to be a numbers game. the money is out there, but not at
the amounts being asked for in comparison to how many folks watch it. get the fans and viewers to increase, and the money will follow. everyone agrees on what nhra drag racing is. what it
offers fans. the visceral experience that it is. some of these teams mite be able to make a B2B relationship work, but obviously every team can not ..... spend less or attract more fans and viewers.
note: the 4 wides from charlotte drew a .21 (350k viewers), down from 2018 at .33 (550k viewers). same channel. same sunday delayed broadcast ...... maybe a little revenue can be given up to
attract more fans to fill bleachers? new fans that turn into tv viewers? monster was in it for 3 years. won the deal. big deal. gone. yes, they have nascar title rite, but they also sponsor a female
with a last name of deegan in a lesser nascar series (think gray jr.)..... after 3 years, monster did not value staying with nhra, nor did another energy, beer, or beverage company see an opening
as monster departed. what if the nitro teams were only asking for $2m annually? would it be a different story? what were the teams asking for in 90's?, 2000's?, now? has the amount increased
while the attendance and viewers has remained flat

 

[SundayNiagara]

When Coke first came aboard with Powerade, the Worsham's had Pepsi signs on their trailers. NHRA told Chuck to remove them and he refused. NHRA backed down.

 

[FABMAN]

Personally, I don't think even Mello Yello should get exclusivity. Like David pointed out, as title rights sponsor, they're going to get the lion's share of the exposure anyway, as they should. I would also echo his statement regarding the quality of one's product being good enough to not fear, but welcome competition. Especially if that competition could result in more competitor participation and lead to more fans in the stands and watching on television. Competition fosters better products to start with, but that's a completely different discussion. But to exclude other beverage companies from possibly coming in and backing a team or two doesn't make any sense to me. Not in this climate.

They hit the nail square on the head with the demographic, as far as I'm concerned. The current crop of younger fans really should be attracted to this sport as the data appears to suggest. So I would have to agree that something is certainly wrong/broken. Communication is key, no matter if you're talking about relationships with your kids, boss, spouse or whatever. Those hard conversations HAVE to happen in order to be successful. And those conversations always go much better when they're sooner than later. The longer you let anything fester, the worse it gets.

To say egos are involved is to say the surface of the sun is hot. Hopefully both sides can park their respective egos soon and the key players can nut-up and have that hard conversation for the betterment of the sport.

Sean D

They like Street Outlaws !!!

 

[Timmah]

lets say your average nat. event reaches 700k fans. 600k via fox networks. 50k live attendance. 50k via online content and misc. other......700 x 24 events = 17m fans & viewers annually.
that number has to have a value ....... i.e. a fortune 500 company will reach optimistically 18-20m fans annually; and that is worth how much? IMO it is not $3-4m or wouldn't we have
sponsors beating down the doors?

Very good question Mike. I think it's mainly because of today's CEO's of Fortune 500 businesses understand basic math - specifically the Customer Acquisition Cost.

Sure, the numbers state that we have an annual "reach" of 17 million fans for the 24 race season. But, here is the reality - those 600,000 Fox Network TV viewers are likely 90% or higher repeat viewers each week. So, that being said, you can likely subtract 13 million of those 'viewers annually' from the total - and you get - 4 million potential annual reach...? Take those events at venues with two events per year, and those 50K live attendance figures are also likely 90% repeat business....numbers are starting to dip into the 3 million reach at that point.

Not that impressive when you think of it like that - is it? But that's what MANY new marketers and CEO's look at 'numbers'.

Today's decision maker (CMO & CEO) understands the value of Unique Impressions vs. 'total reach'. So, how can ANY company justify $4,000,000 annual investment under those terms? It's like spending $1.00 per potential consumer (or the Customer Acquisition Cost). From what I understand, the magic number for a realistic potential CAC is in the $0.10 per potential consumer range for most of today's budget-strapped businesses.

All businesses and industries have different levels of CAC - which is mainly factored by their Cost of Goods, profit margin, and sales.

Just -$.02 cents of info to consider.

 

[Tony]

This is the most important dialog in the interview. EVERYONE has a boss to answer to...
“If I’m a marketing director and I have a bucket of money, I have to answer to my CFO, my boss, the CEO, about how I’m spending this money. If I don’t feel 100-percent secure that I’m going to have a return on investment when I go in and give my report to my boss, I’m not spending my money with you. We always look at it from ‘What partnerships can I get-get-get?’ But what I need to do when I’m talking to a marketing CMO or somebody who has the authority to spend that bucket of money, I’ve got to show them that they’re in good hands with me, that they’re going to be well taken care of, that I’m going to provide a return on their investment. They’re not going to put their neck out for me. I wouldn’t do that. Would you? If you were a marketing director and you have $3 million that you can spend? At the end of the day, when you go and report that and say, ‘Well, I spent $3 million, but I really can’t tell you I got it back’ – I’m not willing to risk that if I’m not sure I’m going to get a return on my investment, if I’m not sure when I bring my customers there or my associates there or my B2B opportunities to this platform that they’re not going to have the time of their lives.”

 

[FABMAN]

Tony, from what I know about you it take someone like Tony, DSR that has the winners driver,in TF multi champ DSR with huge iwinning history, your company will not just TF but also FC rollng billboard and will be shown all over the country at local race facilities on prime TV Fox, FS1,FS2 NHRATV repeat races are shown daily. Invite the CEO, COO to Us Nationals and show him first hand how he will get a return on their investment. Good Luck

 

[Randy]

Good article. But, while drag races happen quickly for today’s attention-lacking crowd, that also amounts to less visibility of the sponsors on TV or in print.
If a car goes out in the first round, that’s all the exposure that sponsor is going to get for the entire race.
And, let’s be honest, coverage of the drivers themselves is not equal.
Cameron Ferre is a great kid. We first met when he drove the Invader NFC for us at Tulsa in 2014. He has since worked his way up to Top Fuel. We spoke at the Gators this year and he is still as personable as he was when I first met him.
I’ve followed him ever since then. I really hope he does well but in a recurring theme, money, or the lack thereof, is an issue. When is the last time he was interviewed during a broadcast over an entire weekend?
It’s not just Cameron who doesn’t get covered. There have been many conversations regarding some drivers getting zero, or very little, coverage while others are always on, regardless of how well they do, or don’t do, during a race.
Get Cameron in a well funded ride and I’m confident he will do well. But, if nobody knows about him, how can he get a big sponsor?
At least with the roundy-round racers, unless the car wrecks or blows up, the sponsor’s name is going to be visible for “x” number of hours while the race is ongoing.
While drag races may be appealing to those who can’t put their phones down, the amount of exposure for sponsorship dollars spent is nowhere as high as it is for the circle racers.
What’s the solution? Heck if I know. I’m sitting here watching Live PD.
Hopefully, for the sake of the sport, somebody a lot smarter than I am can figure it out.

Unless you are in the pack leading the race or have a big wreck you aren't getting much air time in NASCAR.

 

[Jimbo]

Another problem with getting sponsors if you are a one car operation is teams that have more then one car.
For associate sponsors the opportunity to be on more then one car makes sense so sure it's going to hurt the smaller teams.

Jim Hill
www.nostalgicracingdecals.com

 

[ironpony]

Has anyone here actually bought a product because it was a sponsor on a race car ?? I buy at certain stores to try and support them but I also buy products where I get the best value for my money.

 

[Sean D, shondoo]

Has anyone here actually bought a product because it was a sponsor on a race car ?? I buy at certain stores to try and support them but I also buy products where I get the best value for my money.

I actually do the exact same thing you do. I support every chance I get, but in some cases the cost difference is just too much.

Sean D

 

[Cliff]

Too bad Costco isn't involved in racing, cuz I buy a lot of stuff there. Like Sean & Ken, I keep a close eye on costs. I also go to the dollar stores. I'm thinking that Dollar General was involved in NASCAR?? Those stores make a lot of $ and could sponsor a race or a car.

 

[Sean D, shondoo]

With a few exceptions here and there, it's always seemed to be a pretty tight swath of advertising within drag racing and I never understood that. Sure, it's a sport that caters to gearheads so you would expect industry specific marketing, but all of those gearheads consume food, use toilet paper, toothpaste, buy shoes and make-up, electronics; the list goes on and on. And maybe all of those obscure markets get proposed to, I don't know. But I would think you would see some of them pop up a little more often.

Sean D

 

[Sean D, shondoo]

I would think AR would be as close to the action as anybody on this question (and probably more so Don, but he doesn't post as regularly as Alan), but when it comes to exposure numbers, what do the decision makers say? Do they solely look at television numbers? Is it a split between TV numbers and what they see when in fan attendance when they make a personal appearance at a race? My guess would be that it's primarily TV numbers, with a small percentage of weight given to how many folks actually attend these events.

Sean D

 

[ironpony]

I would think AR would be as close to the action as anybody on this question (and probably more so Don, but he doesn't post as regularly as Alan), but when it comes to exposure numbers, what do the decision makers say? Do they solely look at television numbers? Is it a split between TV numbers and what they see when in fan attendance when they make a personal appearance at a race? My guess would be that it's primarily TV numbers, with a small percentage of weight given to how many folks actually attend these events.

Sean D

IMO as long as Nitro is going strong, which is what the casual fan is interested in, NHRA is not doing anything. NHRA banks on "a" fan showing up once a year to watch NITRO and buy some food and souvenirs. If anything happens to NITRO, Kallitta, Force or Shoe, NHRA is done.
US 100 diehard fans that are left are not going to save anything

 

[Sean D, shondoo]

IMO as long as Nitro is going strong, which is what the casual fan is interested in, NHRA is not doing anything. NHRA banks on "a" fan showing up once a year to watch NITRO and buy some food and souvenirs. If anything happens to NITRO, Kallitta, Force or Shoe, NHRA is done.
US 100 diehard fans that are left are not going to save anything

While I don't disagree with the crux of what you're saying, I wouldn't necessarily say nitro is going strong, either, and I think you would agree with that as well. When someone of Schumacher's caliper is on the sideline with what that organization brings to the table as a whole, that's concerning.

But as for your point about the Big-3 of nitro racing, couldn't agree more. Kinda' scary when you think about what the nitro landscape would look like with even 1 of those owners folding everything up.

Sean D

 

[Nunz]

I disagree with the seemingly popular opinion that if the big 3 teams went away, nitro racing is done. It would be a big transition, for sure, but the sport, and the fuel classes in particular, would survive. We may not see the rise of new multi-car teams, but over time I would bet there would be enough of an influx of new players to carry the torch. Think of the new blood that has stepped up recently, and in recent years, to race in TF and FC. If we could ever find a formula to bring down the required budgets, the influx would grow even bigger.

 

[stockergtp]

Has anyone here actually bought a product because it was a sponsor on a race car ?? I buy at certain stores to try and support them but I also buy products where I get the best value for my money.

I have if I need a product a sponsor makes. I also make an effort to write to at least customer service thanking the company for sponsoring a race car. I wrote SK Tools a few years ago thanking them and all I expected was a reply saying thanks for writing and they sent me a signed picture of the racer they sponsor.

 

[TSK]

Don’t forget the Department of Homeland Security really pays attention to sales of nitromethane. Let another whack job blow something up with it, and sales will be severely curtailed or even halted.
Maybe it’s time to look at the classes besides nitro and focus on growing them instead.

 

[Cliff]

Ted, this is something I have thought about. Back in the 1990's, Prudhomme told a story about nitro almost going away, because the Chinese gained control & prices went up. That almost caused the teams to go to alky. Well, suppose that happens today. What would drag racing become? I look at all the 1/8 mile classes that are being run. They get pretty good crowds and young fans go to those races. So would drag racing become a door car sport? 1/8 mile? There are some TV shows featuring "street outlaw" type cars that are popular. Would nitro F/C teams go to a street outlaw format to stay in racing? This is just something I'm throwing out. I would personally hate to see nitro cars go away & would rather see the classes slowed down so they would cost less to run. I'm thinking of 10 years from now. Where will the sport be? What will NHRA do to keep it around? Something to think about.