NASCAR

via iRacing,

A vision that Bill France Jr. articulated more than fifteen years ago will become reality this season with the formation of the NASCAR iRacing.com Series, an official NASCAR racing series.

Coming off of an epic Wimbledon for the second year in a row, it would seem that tennis, with all its global promotional arms, the power of the USTA and the other three Grand Slams, and some strong personalities would be poised to make a strong followup showing leading into the US Open Series. After all, this past week had the best team-based tennis event in the world…one that showed that the sport could be played not just as individuals or even as doubles partners, but in an event that fans could understand and experience and that each match would count for toward a season long finale, just like other sports. Yes that team format did deliver with some fun matches, a great digital play, a good experience on site for all and even some amazing press coverage.

Coming off of an epic Wimbledon for the second year in a row, it would seem that tennis, with all its global promotional arms, the power of the USTA and the other three Grand Slams, and some strong personalities would be poised to make a strong followup showing leading into the US Open Series. After all, this past week had the best team-based tennis event in the world…one that showed that the sport could be played not just as individuals or even as doubles partners, but in an event that fans could understand and experience and that each match would count for toward a season long finale, just like other sports. Yes that team format did deliver with some fun matches, a great digital play, a good experience on site for all and even some amazing press coverage.

As we head into mid-July, what has normally been a slow season for sports brand activation has unveiled a host of positive programs and good signs for sports on all levels. Starting with Mixed Martial Arts and the hundreds of brands and thousands of fans that have descended on Las Vegas for UFC 100 this weekend. The LA Times had a good look at the UFC’s success and its ability to build fans around the experiential platform that they have created and can execute for their followers, both on site and on pay per view. Great weekend for the UFC, which continues to be the only true national brand in the sport.

As we head into mid-July, what has normally been a slow season for sports brand activation has unveiled a host of positive programs and good signs for sports on all levels. Starting with Mixed Martial Arts and the hundreds of brands and thousands of fans that have descended on Las Vegas for UFC 100 this weekend. The LA Times had a good look at the UFC’s success and its ability to build fans around the experiential platform that they have created and can execute for their followers, both on site and on pay per view. Great weekend for the UFC, which continues to be the only true national brand in the sport.

One of the most elusive searches for traditional sports and entertainment properties is the quest to get younger…to identify with and activate against that very active audience that may have already grown tired of the traditional and looks elsewhere for its thrills. For an audience more interested in the half pipe and BMX than baseball or football, the ways for brands to reach them have changed in some ways, but in many ways remain the same.

One of the most elusive searches for traditional sports and entertainment properties is the quest to get younger…to identify with and activate against that very active audience that may have already grown tired of the traditional and looks elsewhere for its thrills. For an audience more interested in the half pipe and BMX than baseball or football, the ways for brands to reach them have changed in some ways, but in many ways remain the same.

As we head toward the All-Star break in baseball and get past the halfway point in NASCAR, it is worthwhile to point out a nice recent mix of the two…driver Kenny Wallace’s loyalty to his hometown Cardinals tied to the All-Star game. Wallace, who has shown his loyalty to the Cards by wearing Cardinals red at races, talking about the Cards on twitter and his facebook page, and even indulging in online chats about the team when he is not racing, got to go home and meet the Cards recently, throw out a first pitch and even help promote the All-Star Fan fest with some ticket giveaways, a great crossover promotion for both sports.

As we head toward the All-Star break in baseball and get past the halfway point in NASCAR, it is worthwhile to point out a nice recent mix of the two…driver Kenny Wallace’s loyalty to his hometown Cardinals tied to the All-Star game. Wallace, who has shown his loyalty to the Cards by wearing Cardinals red at races, talking about the Cards on twitter and his facebook page, and even indulging in online chats about the team when he is not racing, got to go home and meet the Cards recently, throw out a first pitch and even help promote the All-Star Fan fest with some ticket giveaways, a great crossover promotion for both sports.

It started with mic’ed up athletes and coaches, evolved to Helmet cam and driver cam and on and on until we get Tweets from Charlie Villanueva and others in the lockerroom all in the name of trying to give fans unprecedented access to the athlete in a time when the media are getting less and less access on a daily basis. So the ways brands have to look and think about what is still available and what is next remains a growing challenge for a demanding public, demanding brands and a shrinking traditional media field. The folks at Sprint, through their NASCAR Partnership, have come up with yet another piece of an insiders look, and found the perfect way to use their distribution methods to their subscribers to provide it.

One of the best sites on the web for sports things digital is Pat Coyle’s Sports Marketing 2.0, and they recently did a summary on the NFL Draft and teams use of twitter to actually break news (which was also put together by the Sports Business Daily). As brands and athletes jump to the twitter bandwagon, it shows that the technology may have an immediacy that others do not have for exclusive news distribution.

Last January, with Scott Price’s Sports Illustrated piece on then-candidate Barack Obama, we wondered if other candidates would take to sports to try and pull in the casual male voter who may not really be interested in politics but would put a guys guy in the White House. Price’s piece was followed by the now well known series of sports-themed shots and pieces about the President, while the other candidates never really looked to sports as a catalyst. John McCain golfed a bit and ventured to NASCAR races, and then-Senator Clinton never even looked to young women as a way to garner the support of young athletes.

We have often talked about the new ways NASCAR has derived in a down economy to reach the consumer and work with their partners. This week brought another series of innovations, the biggest of which is a new education module tied into science to reach students who love invention and innovation, but may never have gotten near a track, a driver or any of the brands around the sport. The Science of Speed , an online teaching component available free to all teachers, marries NASCAR’s racing and engineering experience with simple experiments and programs for science teachers to apply in their curriculum to students.

The Subway chain has done a great job in recent years of finding ways to attack the demo they are trying to reach, whether that is through their team of athlete endorsers, NASCAR or even through their weight loss king, Jared. By going after those groups, Subway spoke right to the adult who chased fast food, and their affordable meals and “Eat Fresh” campaign resulted in some great brand building and awareness, not to mention sales growth.

Most of you have probably heard by now that the NFL is at least in preliminary discussions to extend their regular season from 16 to 18 games, eliminating two of those extremely exciting, pulse pounding preseason games.  What you may not have known is that there is one sport that is watching the NFL’s moves with baited breath.  That sport is NASCAR…and apparently, a move might not be the worst idea.