Your client
off at the drag races
How to reach crowds of young men looking for a good time
By Diego Vasquez
Apr 4, 2011
Advertisers are always trying to find ways to connect with the hard-to-reach young male audience, and one place they're guaranteed to find them is at National Hot Rod Association races.
The crowds at weekend-long NHRA events are three-quarters male, with 60 percent ages 18-49, and crowds are often as large as 125,000 because of the affordable ticket prices.
Advertising at events include signage, naming rights and team sponsorships.
In addition to fans in the stands, advertisers can reach audiences at home through events that are televised.
To find out how to get your client at NHRA events, read on.
This is one in a Media Life series on buying out-of-home venues. They appear weekly.
Fast Facts
What
Advertising and sponsorship at the 22 NHRA drag racing events per year.
Who
Title sponsorship for events and on-site advertising is handled by the NHRA. Team sponsorship is handled by the individual teams.
How it works
An NHRA event includes a number of classes of competition. Four classes race Friday through Sunday at each event: top fuel dragster, funny car, pro stock and pro stock motorcycle.
One of the most visible ways for brands to get involved is title sponsorship of the events, such as the O'Reilly Auto Parts Northwest Nationals or the Ford Thunder Valley Nationals.
Title sponsors get the added benefit of mentions in media coverage of the event, and they also get eight TV spots during the event telecasts, which air on ESPN2.
Another highly visible, though more expensive option is for a brand to sponsor a racing team for a season. Team sponsorship includes logos on the race cars and on the uniforms of team crew members.
Top teams also extend their sponsorships beyond race days with events such as sponsored driver appearances.
There are also a number of signage opportunities at the events, including guard wall signage along the track (both inside and outside), grandstand signage and signs on towers behind where the racers start. These locations are seen on TV multiple times throughout the telecasts.
Advertisers can also set up interactive displays, much like those seen at fan fests for other sports. For example, a soda brand could set up a booth and pass out samples, or an auto parts dealer might sign up people for a sweepstakes.
Markets
The 22 annual NHRA events take place within a 120 mile radius of 32 of the top 50 DMAs. Races take place in Ponoma, Calif. (twice a year), Gainesville, Fla., Las Vegas (twice a year), Charlotte (twice a year), Houston, Atlanta, Topeka, Kan., Englishtown, N.J., Bristol, Tenn., Norwalk, Ohio, Chicago, Denver, Sonoma, Calif., Seattle, Brainerd, Minn., Indianapolis, Dallas, Reading, Pa., and Phoenix.
Numbers
The NHRA says it brings in an average of 2.2 million fans across 22 events each year, with top events bringing in up to 125,000 over the course of a weekend.
Also, ESPN2 averaged more than 1.0 million viewers for NHRA telecasts in 2010, according to Nielsen, with 10 of 20 Sunday telecasts coming in as the network's most-watched program of the day.
How it is measured
Event attendance is used to estimate impressions, and ratings from ESPN2 broadcasts are included for events that are televised.
What product categories work well
Frequent NHRA advertisers include auto manufacturers, auto parts retailers, insurance, beverages, cell phones and electronics.
Demographics
NHRA fans are 75 percent male and 25 percent female, according to Scarborough Research.
Among adult fans, 12.6 percent are age 18-24, 16.5 percent are 25-34, 31.8 percent are 35-49, 28 percent are 50-64 and 11.1 percent are 65 or older.
Among NHRA fans, 22.4 percent have an annual household income of less than $29,999, with 28.5 percent between $30,000 and $49,999, 34.1 percent between $50,000 and $99,000, 9.3 percent between $100,000 and $149,999, and 5.7 percent at $150,000 or more.
Making the buy
Event naming rights and team sponsorship deals are worked out at least a year in advance. On-site advertising such as signage or interactive booths can be negotiated up to a few days before an event.
Pricing varies widely. Signage at one event can cost as low as $4,000, while event naming rights averages $300,000. Sponsorship of championship-caliber teams runs in the $3.5 million to $5 million-per-year range.
Who’s already at NHRA events
Current or recent drag racing sponsors include Coca-Cola, Full Throttle energy drink, Tire Kingdom, Napa Auto Parts, Geico, Ford, Valvoline, DieHard, Motorola and Goodyear.
What they’re saying
“The fan loyalty of using our sponsors' products is high, and our fans understand the importance of sponsorship. Without advertiser support their favorite driver may not be out there, so they're predisposed to brands fueling their passion." – Tony Driscoll, vice president of sales and business development at the NHRA
Web site info
NHRA
http://www.nhra.com
Full Throttle Series Schedule (top NHRA competition division)
http://www.nhra.com/schedules/2011fts.aspx
Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series
http://sportsman.nhra.com/2011/sp_schedule.asp
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