Monster Deal for NASCAR

NaSCAR says goodbye to sprint and hello to the future

As an on and off NASCAR fan I occasionally like to keep up to date with various happenings in the sport. Other than tuning into a race to see the next big wreck, I do follow a few drivers from time to time and will check out any big news. But something huge peaked my attention recently. NASCAR's most recent cup series sponsor Sprint has been replaced by the energy drink giant, Monster (see what I did there). Now Sprint's contract did in fact run out and they chose not to come back so it's not so much a replacement as it is a changing of the guard. How good this changing of the guard will be for the sport? Only time will tell but I think there's a lot of potential here.

If you look at the fan base of NASCAR as a whole, unless you live in the south where everyone and their brother loves NASCAR, most fans tend to be on the older side. I'd be willing to bet that there's not many NASCAR fans roaming the halls of a high school in Connecticut or Montana but you can bet your butt there's kids walking around with a Monster energy drink in their bag. Monster could potentially bring a breath of fresh air to sport which is otherwise kind of stale. Monster holds the key to a demographic NASCAR is always trying to reach and it's very possible they could bring in a lot of new fans to the sport all while improving the experience for the current fans. When you look at Monster's endorsements of other sports and motorsports particularly you notice a different vibe from them. There really is more energy. Go to a formula drift or stadium supercross event and try not to be drawn in by the monster energy umbrella girls, the giant tents or sleek black cars. They're just different. They get it. I'm not bashing Sprint but I can't imagine their merch booth at any event exudes the kind of fun and energy the way Monster does. The Monster brand is more of a lifestyle brand. The kind of edgey, extreme sports oriented lifestyle that NASCAR was essentially built on but grew away from with the onset of becoming a massive corporation. NASCAR started as a bunch of moonshiners running from the law and Monster energy drinks is all about testing the limits and going to the next level. Maybe NASCAR and Monster can work together to bring that new and old school rebelliousness together in a cohesive manner.

Now for anyone who follows motorsports on the global level...ie: Formula 1...you may be thinking about the elephant in the room, or in this case bull. Yes, Red Bull. Monster and Red Bull kind of go hand in hand and when I first heard about this whole new sponsorship from Monster, I couldn't help but to think about Red Bull. Red Bull doesn't sponsor a series but they do have a pretty successful formula 1 team and a long list of successful athletes under their belt. Is Monster trying to elevate themselves to the level of Red Bull? Who knows, but it is no secret that Monster does already sponsor a NASCAR team where as Red Bull tried and didn't do so well. So maybe Monster is more suited to take on the largest spectator sport in the US. This will be Monster energy's largest sponsorship to date so it'll be interesting to see how they do and compare against who is arguably the leader in extreme sport sponsorships.

What do you think? Can Monster hoist themselves to the elite level of sponsorship like their estranged cousin Red Bull? Or will they just fall to the shadows and end up being NASCAR'S marketing bank. Let me know what you think in the comments and be sure to follow and bump the tribe.

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