With a new NASCAR season revving up, companies still have a chance to associate themselves with stock-car racing's most popular driver -- Dale Earnhardt Jr.
And they can do so at the relatively low prices found in the second-tier Nationwide series.
In better economic times, the possibility of such a deal would have triggered a stampede of potential sponsors. But as of this week, the JR Motorsports team had sponsorship contracts in hand for only 12 of 35 Nationwide races for its main car (The team has separate deals for Danica Patrick to race part time in a second car).
Earnhardt Jr.'s sister, Kelley, who leads the sponsorship search, is frustrated but not surprised at how difficult the process has been.
"When you are knee-deep in it and talking to your sponsors, I am not surprised, if you listen to them talk about what they are up against," she said.
"They want the return (on investment). We as a sport, I think we've had some checks and balances of what they are paying for -- how much it is to sponsor one of our cars versus the return they get."
Economic woes haven't completely chased corporate America from NASCAR, and there are signs that interest is picking up after sponsors cut back significantly or left the sport last year. But in sharp contrast to the mid-2000s, when top teams regularly reeled in eight-figure sponsorship deals, companies now demand more for less.
"It's still a fabulous investment, and JR Motorsports gets more attention than a lot of Cup teams do," Kelley Earnhardt said. "But we're having to change the way we approach it."
That means taking a crash course in using social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, for exposure.
"It used to be you could talk about (traditional media) impressions and TV ratings, but now they want actual physical people they can touch," she said. "Now we sit in meetings with potential sponsors and … they ask, ‘How many Facebook friends do you have?' They want actual bodies to touch."
Steve Phelps, NASCAR's chief marketing officer, says it's only natural that companies want more for less in today's economic climate.
"Everything was (about) the economy last year," he said. "Now the concentration is clearly on racing. That's where the fans would want it to be. We'd obviously want to see it there. You can't ignore the economic impact of what was happening last year. But it's flipped -- if it's not 180 degrees, it's 160 degrees."
Automakers General Motors and Chrysler faced urgent questions about their existence last year and were in no position to increase financial support of racing. Teams consolidated and contracted. Sponsors cut back or went away. At-track attendance slipped, as did TV ratings.
But in general, Phelps says, the economic outlook in NASCAR is in step with the rest of the country -- things might look a little better than last year, but they're still not good,
"I think we're mirroring where the country is as a whole, and where corporate America is as a whole," Phelps said. "Fortunately for us, this thawing of the economy is dovetailing pretty well with some exciting changes that are happening at the track."
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