In many minds, it was viewed as another groundbreaking moment for a sport with increasing television ratings and a national profile on the rise. When Bruton Smith announced 11 years ago that his flagship, Charlotte-area speedway had struck a naming-rights agreement with the Lowe's home improvement chain, some saw it as the beginning of a trend.

"I recall that rather well, and there was the feeling of, this is a breakthrough, a high-water mark for the sport in another area. And that was the time when it was nearing its apex," said Charlotte-based sports marketing consultant Max Muhleman. "Ratings were up, and now this comes along. Charlotte was an awfully good market for racing, but it wasn't the biggest one. There was a feeling that this was going to be a wave that would sweep across the ocean of the sport."

“

If I were managing a speedway today, I would not sell the naming rights to the speedway. ... I think it hurts you too much in marketing and advertising, particularly today when you're struggling to sell tickets in this economy.

”

-- HUMPY WHEELER

And yet, it wasn't. More than a decade after Smith's announcement, only two other Sprint Cup facilities -- Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., and Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif. -- have corporate naming-rights agreements. Lowe's, which struck its deal with then-Charlotte Motor Speedway in 1999 during a period of rapid national expansion for both the home-improvement company and NASCAR, announced earlier this year that the sponsorship would not be continued after the 2009 season. The Concord, N.C., track, which is expected to revert back to its old name next year, held its final NASCAR race weekend under the Lowe's moniker last weekend.

The lingering effects of the current economic recession, which has had a devastating impact on sponsorship in NASCAR, would seem to preclude any new naming-rights agreements from being struck in the near future. But even in good economic times, when the sport was enjoying unprecedented popularity, attendance and television ratings, corporate names for race tracks were a rarity. This despite the fact that in other sports, facility naming-rights deals are the rule rather than the exception. In the NFL, 15 of 31 stadiums are named after corporations. In Major League Baseball, it will be 19 of 30 when the Minnesota Twins move into their new ballpark next year. In the NBA, 23 of 29 arenas have naming-rights agreements.

From Safeco Field to Miller Park to Gillette Stadium to the United Center, corporate naming rights have become entrenched in American sports culture, to the point where fans rarely even seem bothered by them anymore. So why did this trend never catch on in NASCAR, seen by many as a paragon of sports marketing? It doesn't help that, compared to other sports facilities, that race tracks are used rather infrequently. And then there are the bevy of other marketing opportunities -- first and foremost cars and drivers -- available elsewhere within the sport.

"It might be the fact that historically, NASCAR has been such a strong marketing vehicle, that it overshadows the benefits of naming rights," said David Carter, principal of the Sports Business Group, and an assistant professor at the University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business. "What I mean by that is, if you look at these tracks around the country, clearly the number of events they have might not be as high in number or perhaps in caliber as you would see with sports arenas around the country that have multiple tenants and a lot of dates. You take a look at that, and it gives you a whole different dynamic if you're a sports marketer. You have these facilities that might not be used as much as others."

Even high-profile tracks like Daytona and Indianapolis are used relatively infrequently compared to arenas in other sports. Although tracks often fill their annual schedules with activities like charity events, car shows, commercial shoots, tests and ride-alongs, potential naming-rights partners are looking for the kind of major events that tracks typically host only two or three times a year.

"A track has basically at most two major events, the [NASCAR] races," said Muhleman, who runs Private Sports Consulting. "You look at football, the NFL at least has 10 major events, eight regular season and two preseason games that are generally televised, generally nationally covered, and in some cases highly covered. They have a wider footprint to spread the naming rights benefit over. Baseball of course is off the charts with 81 home games, and to a lesser extent so are areas with basketball and hockey. Race tracks are at a fundamental disadvantage in terms of exposure compared to those other sports. Your budget is for 12 fiscal months and your benefits are for two or three. That's a metric you have to contend with." (Continued)