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Why Sponsors Love NASCAR More Than Ever
May 29, 2025 | Edition #16
Hey there!
NASCAR isn’t just racing cars anymore—it’s racing ahead with an entirely new sponsorship model. With 51 official partners in 2025, the sport is shifting gears faster than Ross Chastain’s No.1 Chevrolet. This week, we sat with AJ Mazza of BetMGM, the official sponsor of Richard Childress Racing, to understand why brands are eager to partner with a niche sport like NASCAR.
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Today’s TLDR:
🏁 Why NASCAR Is Hogging the Sponsors’ Limelight
🏆 BetMGM’s Winning Formula for NASCAR
📖 The stories shaping the industry (and the lessons we learned this week)
Let’s dive in. 🚀
Before we deep dive into the sponsorship model, here is a quick snapshot from this year:
18 of 51 sponsorship deals are four years old or less. 9 of them started in 2025.
Seven categories, including electrification, debt relief, 3D printing, and others, are totally new.
A marked improvement over 2024, when sponsorship revenue declined by 15%.
Legacy brands like Coca-Cola, Goodyear, and Chevrolet still play key roles, but newcomers like Jack Link’s, Liquid Death, and Ticketmaster point to a deeper shift. This signals two things:
1️⃣ NASCAR is clearly targeting a younger audience, especially Gen Z.
2️⃣ Brands see NASCAR as the route to tap into this younger market and secure loyal customers.
At the same time, NASCAR is expanding the scale and scope of sponsorship opportunities. One that leverages data, analytics, and futuristic technology.
Trimble’s entry: A blueprint for the future
RFK Racing has signed a multi-year sponsorship deal with Trimble, a global tech company known for its expertise in 3D modeling, positioning, and data analytics. With $3.68B in 2024 revenue, Trimble's move into NASCAR shows a major shift:
📈 RFK Racing gains an edge in vehicle design and performance optimization through data and analytics.
🚀 They will also contribute to RFK TeK Alliance, a collaborative platform that aims to transform RFK into a leading tech-enabled team..
💥 Trimble’s expanded brand presence leverages RFK's popularity as one of NASCAR’s top 10 most popular teams.
This forward-driven initiative partnership is a blueprint for how other tech and construction brands can join NASCAR. Brands can get involved in:
☑️ Pit crew applications, driver and crew safety.
☑️ Trackside machinery to showcase their products.
☑️ Social media campaigns around winning teams.
Another factor that’s playing a key role in drawing eyeballs from different sponsors is its pivot towards streaming and a focus on globalizing the game.
NASCAR is going through a sea change
The $7.7B media rights deal, which included Amazon Prime, is a game-changer. It debuted with the Coca-Cola 600 last week. Despite the initial concerts, brands are very bullish on it. At the same time, international races have unlocked a new opportunity:
💻 Live sports on OTT platforms like Amazon Prime open doors to a younger, tech-savvy audience.
🤝 Companies outside the sport have reached out to teams to explore possible deals because of the value Amazon Prime offers (The Athletic).
🇲🇽 Whereas hosting races outside the USA, like the Mexico event, opened up doors for short-term regional deals.
Brands now prefer sponsorships for 12 or 18 races instead of 30, focusing on races where their target audience is. The reasoning is simple: if your brand isn't present in the race's host location, why put your name on the cars?
This flexibility makes NASCAR’s sponsorship model even more attractive. For instance, BetMGM is back as a sponsor for the Charlotte Motor Speedway and has renewed its partnership with Richard Childress Racing. We chatted with AJ Mazza about this on our latest Think Tank podcast.
Do You Think NASCAR’s Global Expansion Will Rival F1’s Reach in the Next Five Years? |
As BetMGM’s Director of Brand, Mazza is all about making strategic partnerships. But why NASCAR? After all, it’s still a niche sport:
NASCAR averaged 2.9 million viewers last year.
Comparably, the NFL averaged 17.9 million viewers.
The Würth 400 2025 drew 2.56M viewers, outperforming the Miami Grand Prix but lagging behind Golden State vs. Houston Rockets Game 7 (6.63M).
However, contrary to what you might expect, it’s because of its status as a niche sport, it’s more favorable for brands. Especially for a company like BetMGM, whose playing field is the Big 4 American leagues, NASCAR opens a new door.
It [NASCAR] taps into a slightly different fanbase, which is good for us. We're still a broad-based product. Football is over-saturated; basketball is over-saturated… so NASCAR gives us access to a sort of different fanbase, which is exciting.
Yes, fewer people might watch compared to a Knicks vs. Pacers game. But the impact is far higher. According to a think piece on Adobe:
🎯 73% of NASCAR fans are devoted followers.
🎯 NASCAR fans are 3X more likely to buy sponsored products.
🎯 47% of NASCAR fans are under the age of 40.
The sponsorship opportunities in NASCAR are diverse as well:
Teams: Brands can sponsor a team, which gives them access to prime spots to showcase their involvement.
Driver: Brands can independently sponsor a driver without any attachment to the team.
Tracks: This offers the naming rights to the brand, like Coca-Cola 600 for the Charlotte event.
All that allows brands to be more creative. For example, BetMGM’s team sponsorship with Richard Childress Racing allowed them to offer fans a unique experience, a la giveaways. Mazza explains: “Meet the driver, give the tour of the garage, get down to pit row, these are all things that we just love giving our players (users) — these opportunities that they can’t get anywhere else.”
So, even though NASCAR has a comparatively smaller market space to operate in, brands can benefit from associating themselves with the league.
🤝 Sponsoring NASCAR will earn you a loyal customer base.
✨ Interactive fan zones offer a chance to create a lasting impression.
🔍 The popularity of NASCAR drivers, as you can see below, offers a greater reach.
BetMGM's return to NASCAR as a sponsor reflects a deeper, strategic approach that aligns with the sport's loyal, niche fan base. The company's activation strategies, including unique fan interactions and exclusive offers, highlight why NASCAR's audience is a valuable target for long-term engagement.
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