(NASCAR Wire Service)
Staff Report ~ NASCAR Wire Service
LAS VEGAS – NASCAR announced on Thursday at Wynn Las Vegas a multi-year deal that will make Monster Energy only the third entitlement sponsor in premier series history.
The length and terms of the deal were not disclosed, but both parties hailed the partnership as the perfect fit for both brands.
“Monster Energy is a brand built on excitement and enthusiasm, qualities that align with NASCAR,” said Brian France, NASCAR Chairman and CEO. “This sponsorship position is the most unique in all of sports and entertainment, and we are thrilled to have a partner that will help us further elevate the series. Today’s announcement is the culmination of a thorough search, one that resulted in the right partner at this important time in our sport’s history.”
Monster Energy has existing sponsorships with a number of motorsports sanctioning bodies, athletes and teams, but the NASCAR deal signals the biggest sponsorship step in the company’s history.
“Monster has built its brand on racing and motorsports, and NASCAR is the pinnacle of motorsports in America,” said Mitch Covington, vice president of sports marketing at Monster Beverage Company. “It’s American racing, we’re an American brand that’s a global company, and NASCAR is too. When the opportunity came along to further associate yourself with a sport like NASCAR, it was the perfect fit for us. … NASCAR is just a hard-hitting, close racing, fun property to be associated with.”
Along with naming rights to NASCAR’s top series, Monster Energy will also hold race sponsorship to the NASCAR All-Star Race and become the Official Energy Drink of NASCAR. Monster Energy also said it will continue to sponsor Stewart-Haas Racing’s No. 41 car.
Thursday’s announcement is the culmination of a lengthy and thorough search by NASCAR to find the successor to Sprint, whose entitlement sponsorship will end on December 31, 2016.
Steve Phelps, NASCAR executive vice president and chief global sales and marketing officer, said that the sanctioning body spoke with numerous companies throughout the process, ultimately choosing Monster Energy for a number of reasons, not the least of which was its lifestyle culture.
“We have the good fortune of finding a brand that we believe works for our sport,” Phelps said. “They’re going to bring their lifestyle to their activation. … They’re going to bring their brand, their excitement, their energy to this partnership and the fans are going to be the winners. It’s all about engaging the fans and having the fans have unique, fun experiences whether at the racetrack or through different mediums, through social, digital, content.”
Phelps said a number of ancillary details will be announced in the coming weeks. Among those still under discussion is the name of the series, the series mark and the championship trophy.
Under the agreement, energy drink sponsors already involved in NASCAR may remain in place. Potential sponsors from the energy drink category will not be eligible for future sponsorship if not already involved in the sport.
Though many of us laugh at the recent antics of NASCAR, and especially the ‘Cup’ Series, this is good for racing. We, meaning race fans, now have Heineken, Coca-Cola, Monster and Patron battering our Social media, TV and radio boxes for our dollars and competing against each other for supremacy…let’s hope we win somewhere along too?
When, when, when will PR release writers learn. It’s “TITLE SPONSOR” – NOT “entitlement sponsor.”
Probably when Monster adds a few more zeros on the check.
try putting some BIG money into the mod tour before it becomes history. wait, it will be history when none of the south driver’s come north and vise versa.
Andrew, it looks like you will have to learn what an entitlement sponsor is, because it is not just how PR people write it up.
I DONT see this being longterm, 5 yrs MAX
Monster Energy’s involvement SHOULD be a great move by Nascar and beneficial to all.
Combining the North and South Mod Tour SHOULD be a great move by Nascar and beneficial to all.
Time will tell if Nascar can recover these sanctions or continue fumbling in every way possible. Personally, I don’t see why a company like Monster would want to get involved in a nose diving company with a crumbling foundation.
The two moves you mentioned Racepig were by necessity/desperation. As long as it took for NASCAR to find someone willing to sponsor their most popular series at a time when attendance and viewership are nosediving probably means it’s very short term and Monster low-balled them.
The North & South tours were combined because of declining car counts, lack of interest, and one series is dead, and the other one has at least one foot in the grave.
Both series are still in big trouble, in large part because of the people who are still running them.
The Monster Cup Series! Anyone know if this Monster stuff mixes with well with vodka?
It’s very likely that the Monster signing date was carefully selected, so it didn’t take any attention away from the Sprint Cup Chase.
There was no benefit to any of the parties involved to announce the new sponsorship any sooner.
I see a big problem for Nascar coming. NFL is already seeing it. A vast majority of twenty something’s don’t have cable or direct TV. They use Hulu, Netflix, Amazon etc. So, at the moment they have no way of watching racing unless they go to a bar or the race is on network tv. Honestly, racing and the Red Sox are the only reason I’m hanging on to Direct TV. The tv rating will continue to drop for this reason until they start streaming online. Another issue is the folks who do have cable or Direct TV don’t ever watch commercials anymore. Everyone DVRs the event and fast forwards thru them. When Sponsors figure this out the entire landscape will change. TV ratings fuels drivers and athletes contracts so the day of reckoning is coming for sports in general.
Monster Energy drinks are extremely unhealthy for you by the way. Just an fyi kids.
An example of a TITLE SPONSOR:
NASCAR Monster Energy Series
An example of an ENTITLEMENT SPONSOR:
Social Security Powered By TurboTax
By the way, word is that Monster is paying about 40 cents on the Sprint/Nextel dollar for this deal. If true, that would put the value for sponsoring the entire series not significantly above what it costs to sponsor a single car. Makes me wonder if per-car sponsorships will experience a similar drop, due to free-market pressure.
I was in the stands at Loudon, and a guy behind me was talking about how good these energy drinks are because they enable him to drink more beer. Just what we need in the stands.
Who will the 41’s sponsor be now, Haas only, and any word on the change over to Ford’s?
Monster will continue to sponsor the 41 car.
No, I don’t think you will see Monster sponsoring any cars in the Cup series. Xfinity maybe, but not on the Cup level.
Kurt Busch’s sponsorship from Monster doesn’t change.
“Along with naming rights to NASCAR’s top series, Monster Energy will also hold race sponsorship to the NASCAR All-Star Race and become the Official Energy Drink of NASCAR. Monster Energy also said it will continue to sponsor Stewart-Haas Racing’s #41 Ford of Kurt Busch.”
Just like the old Busch north mod tour is fading fast. NASCAR ruined that series just like they’re doing to the tour.
Andy, it has already been said Monster will continue to sponsor the 41 car for Stewart Haas. It is really no different than when Winston\Camel was sponsoring teams when Winston was still the series sponsor.
It remains to be seen how this will turn out a few years down the road. It doesn’t matter whether you are Monster, Marlboro, or Macy’s, you have an advertising budget. Thus if the this sponsorship doesn’t meet the expected returns in future years, it would seem more likely the 41 gets cut first. It could be just a few races that get cut first, perhaps the entire team funding later. Ultimately it will depend on how each contact is structured, but it is likely the 41 contract is the shorter one. Maybe NASCAR will help Monster increase sales and everyone will be amped up…
What hasn’t been mentioned yet is how this is yet another example of NASCAR poaching a sponsor from a team. Start with Sunoco and look down the list of official NASCAR products and marketing partners and you will see many former team sponsors. Something tells me if Brian France invites you on a deer hunting trip, that amongst his gear you are far most likely to see a giant spotlight than a tree stand…
Brian France is the biggest reason of the decline in NASCAR, like him or not Bill France Jr was at every race and took the lead in NASCAR’s RISE, now the lil rich kid has just taken all the $ and let the whole brand slide downhill!
Yeah, until the first time the 41 has an issue in tech.
Winston didn’t do it for very long, for the exact same reason Monster won’t.
Will the Monster deal prohibit sponsorship by other energy drink manufacturers?
Like back in the cell phone war days?
Per NASCAR: http://www.nascar.com/en_us/news-media/articles/2016/12/1/nascar-entitlement-sponsor-monster-energy-named-premier-series.html
“Under the agreement, energy drink sponsors already involved in NASCAR may remain in place. Potential sponsors from the energy drink category will not be eligible for future sponsorship if not already involved in the sport.”
The barrister in me asks how exactly does NASCAR plan to define an ‘energy drink’? For example, one of the Vitamin Water flavors is called ‘Energy’. While it is not a carbonated, caffeine laden energy drink in the traditional sense, would they or a new company making a drink similar to that be prohibited from NASCAR team sponsorship? I’m sure they could become the official energy water of NASCAR for the right price…
Who cares now we have girls with mini skirts ever see the Monster girls you will be drinking more beer Goodwhatever
Liz said:”The barrister in me asks how exactly does NASCAR plan to define an ‘energy drink’?”
I’m sure it has something to do with how many zeroes are involved.
Just read that the Monster deal is for $20 million a year, compared to $50 million that Sprint did this past year. When Nextel took over for Winston in 2004, the deal was originally for $75 million a year.
The cost per race sponsorship for Monster will be less than what Verizon spends on Indy Car.
NASCAR is getting per year from Monster about what it costs to run a car for a season. Aka: diddly-squat. A tiny fraction of what NASCAR was getting from previous sponsors.
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/report-monster-paying-20-million-a-year-to-sponsor-cup-series-201650547.html
Very risky by Nascar. They are basically devaluing their product by accepting such a small number. They’re obviously hoping for a return by expanding their fan base. This will help the attendances slightly and create a more enticing atmosphere. However, the glitz and glamour will only mask the real problems because Nascar’s product is no longer appealing. JMO
Maybe NASCAR thinks their TV deals will carry them and that’s allowing them to bring in a series sponsor for a lower amount. They have a long, LONG way to go to increase the fan base by $30 million in annual revenue.