Darris Gringeri, Senior VP/PR of Direct TV has announced the end of sponsorship for the NASCAR series. Citing high production costs and low demand, it will also cease to offer the HOTPASS memberships, which were billed as a behind the scenes experience for fans. Street and Smith's Sports Business Journal reported that NASCAR is looking for sponsors to offset this loss in addition to the loss of Office Depot and Dodge.
NASCAR is struggling financially in a poor economy and has even had its name attached to an unpopular "loophole" which house republicans recently cited as a reason for not voting for the recent tax extensions. The extensions were passed, as reported recently by Indianapolis Motorsports Examiner.
Emerging onto the racing scene and motorsports market in recent years is the up-and-coming Must See Racing Xtreme Sprint Series which boasts that races are "repeated [on] 26 cable outlets, Pay Per View, Internet TV, Satellite Direct and Dish, [and] Fox Sports Network to over 100 million households per race" according to Suellen Wilshe of Biobased USA (posted on indianaopenwheel.com 1/6/2013). The winged 410 sprint car races are not as long as NASCAR races and filmed at shorter tracks, which ultimately creates less production and sponsorship costs.
Since the demographics of Must See Racing Xtreme Sprint Series fans are very similar to NASCAR's, sponsors may find more bang for their buck by investigating this and other televised oval track racing series.
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