Asher frequently makes a lot of great points on a lot of subjects, and on this deal he has good points as well, but he also uses a lot of hyperbole.
>> In the case of O?Reilly?s, it?s time NHRA either enforced their own widely discussed ?rule,? or just gave them an ultimatum: Either provide major sponsorship for a professional race team, or take a hike.
Riiiiiight. Like NHRA is going to tell O'Reilly to go anywhere. LOL They've got their money. Why would the push for more to risk losing everything?
Although Asher repeatedly claims that Powerade has done absolutely nothing to market or co-brand with NHRA, that's not correct. I remember seeing commercials with John Force and one or two other drivers in the early years of their sponsorship.
Asher writes: "Accelerade has embarked on the kind of national advertising blitz that POWERade has never mounted"
Actually, Powerade marketed very heavily in the early days. I'm sure everyone remembers the surfer commercial in particular.
and the Lebron James spot:
among others.
Powerade branded a limited-time NHRA flavor and bottle:
http://www.nhra.com/2003/news/June/062703.html
Have they done much for drag racing since? No. Should they do more? From a marketing perspective, I think so. But it's not exactly fair to say they've never done anything.
And his line: ?Well, Tom, money is the only thing that does count. It won?t matter if this extension is through 2050 if it doesn?t bring drag racing a million dollar winner.?
While everyone from the Pros to Sportsman probably merit a purse increase, I still don't get why some members of the media continue to think that the rest of the world is going to sit up and give a d*mn if some drag racer gets a million dollars. Most people probably don't even know what it pays to win the Nextel Cup championship. If they got nothing extra but the trophy, people wouldn't stop watching it.
The co-branding is going to do drag racing a lot more good. A lot of times promotions are put together in the local market. Several years ago, 2-liter Coca-Cola bottles in the Grand Bend, Ontario market had 'bottle hangers' on every bottle with discount tickets for the national event there. McDonald's is a local sponsor at US131 in Michigan. I saw flyers for the national event hanging in the drive-through windows of area restaurants. I even saw flyers in the window of convenience stores around Milan for the *Pro-Am* race each year! Hooters was a very good partner when they were IHRA's series sponsor, with a very visible! presence both on and off the track. A few years ago, I was in one of the restaurants in Ohio, and a waitress came up to me with one of their "HootersSports" magazines, pointed to a group picture of all the IHRA champs from that year and said, "Hey, is this you?" That floored me.