NASCAR is expected to have a tough time squeezing optimum value out of its next Cup Series sponsor now that Sprint is moving on after the 2016 season.
CSM Sport & Entertainment CEO Zak Brown told USA TODAY Sports that the deal will not be as lucrative as the previous one, given the current market climate. Nextel signed a 10-year deal reportedly worth $750 million to become title sponsor beginning in 2004. Sprint then signed a three-year extension through the end of this season, but that came at a reduced rate of about $50 million in rights and activations fees, according to Sports Business Daily.
So what price will be right in 2017? The answer should come within the next month with an expected announcement.
"It all has to be at the right level and the right price," Kim Meesters, general manager of the NASCAR Sprint Cup sponsorship, told USA TODAY Sports. "It all has to be customized. That's why it takes so long to put this kind of deal together."
