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Showtime title-sponsors Darlington race BYMICHAELSMITH ST AFFWRlTER Showtime, wh ich debuted its "Inside NASCAR" show last month. is climbing deeper into the sport by title-sponsoring th e Southern 500 at Da rlington Raceway. The sponsor sh ip is a multiyear a greement be tw een th e network and th e h istor ic track. wh ich has bee n hosting NASCAR events for 60 yea rs. GoDaddy was th e race's presentin g spo ns or last year. The May 8 race will be called th e Showtime Southern 500. "Associating with th e track and the history of th is race was very important to us,so we wanted to keep Southern in the title," sa id Ken Hershman. executive vice president and gene ral manager of Showtime Sports. "When we started the show, we were im pressed wi th th e committed fan base and we're look ing to reall y deep en th at connection by sponsor ing th e race. " Financial terms were not re leased . bu t ti tle sponsorsh ips typically sell for th e h igh six figu re s to low seven figures a yea r. Sho wrtime's deal is believed to be in the mid-six figures this year because the deal was struck so close to th e ra ce date. a Saturday night even t on Fox Sports. The fee for th e 2011 race is expe cted to be closer to seven figures. Despite th e short win dow, Show- time has several activation eleme n ts in th e works. bot h online and for th e even t. Sheila Mills,director of marketin g for Showtime Spo rts, sa id an onl ine sweepstakes will launch this week at sports.sho.com ,offering the w inning fa n a VIP trip for two to the race. Includ ed in th e pr ize pa ckage is a replica of th e Showtime Southern 500 trophy.marking the firs t tim e th e speedway has given away a copy of th e real thing to a fan in victory lane. Th e trophy th at w ill go to the fan is th e sa me in every way, incl uding th e cost of more than $3.000. as the trophy that goes to the winning driver.There 's al so a perpe tual trophy that stays at Darlington . Showtim e also will be on th e grou nd at the race wit h promo tio nal disp lays where it will distribute free DVDs of "Inside NASCAR." "Th is show is a cornerstone of ou r spo r ts pro gramming." which also includes boxin g. mixed martial arts an d football with the "Ins ide the NFL" sho w.Hershman said. "We've got a lot of work to do to tell people this show is on and make them aware. We're not a pr imary destination for NASCAR fans, so we've got to mak e that imprin t in th e ir m inds." Th e gr o u n d wor k for the ti tl e sponsorship was set ear lier this mo nt h wh e n a tea m of close to 10 Show1ime executives from marketing and publi c rel ations visited Darlington, wh ich was the first paved su perspeedway in 1950. Located in the Pee Dee re gion of South Caro lina , Darlington is a long way- geograph ically and culturalIy - from Showtime's head quarters on Broadway in New York. What the Showt ime exe cut ives fou nd in Darlington was a tr a ck whose h istory r u ns pa ralle l to NASCAR's own . After a to ur of the museum on the speedway 's gro unds, Showtime officials walked the grounds and learned about Darlington's char m as "The tr ack too tou gh to tame." "The role we've played in the sport. that's some th ing that re ally got their atten tion." said Darlington President Ch r is Bro wning. "The y really got it when it comes to who we a re a nd what we're about. Th is will be a great platform to help th em promote th eir show and reach tr ue race fans." MARKETING/ SPO NSORS H IP 4 CUP MOMENTUM: SUM adds 3 partners for Mexican national team duringWorld Cup yea r. • BYTRIPP MICKLE 10 THE LEFTON REPORT: What's next for Sprint as NFL switc hes sponsorship to Verizon Wireless? • BYTlRRY u nON M E D IA 7 WHAT'S UP, DOC?: L ombardi documentary first true league co-production for HBD Sports. • BYJOHN DURAND FACILITIES DuPont racesback to offer more NASCAR hospitality BY MICWL SMIlI DuPont's once-robust NASCAR hospitality program suffered enormous cuts last year, but the longtime Jeff Gordon sponsor is back in 2010 with more guests and events ateach track. Just a few years ago. DuPont had the largest hospitality program in NASCAR, hosting 20.000 people a year at every race on the Sprint Cup circuit. Their guests ranged from body shop owners who used DuPont paint to building contractors who bought the Tyvek brand of house wrap. The company would bring as many as 1,000 people to a race. and virtuallytheentirefocusof the sponsorship was based on creating business-to-business activity. "The,'re cORling back and that's the important thing..IUIIY I:AlIWIU BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY DuPont entertained customers withmeals,quest:ion-and-ansessions with Gordonandbagsof swag, all the while making new relationships or deepening existing ones. But DuPont hospitality was largely a casualty of the recession in:m9.lnsteadof entertainingataIl 36 Cup events as it had done in the past, DuPont cut back to six races TheJeff Gonion sponsor realizedthe imponance of hospitality to its sales. and just 2,000 guests. 10 percent of what it used to do. DuPont wasn't the only corporateentity sIashingits spend.Tracks reportedthatrevenue from hospitality was down 20 to 25 percent last year. DuPont. No. 75 on the Fortune 500 list with more than $30 billion inannualrevenue, saidthecuts last year were reflective of cost-cutting measures eompanywide, What DuPont discovered, though, was how important the hospitality program was to its sales. So in 2010, it's back with hospitality events at 23 races and it'll entertain about 4,000 to 5,000guests. "It's reaIIy a reflection of thevalue we place on our clients and customers," said Larry Deas,DuPont's rnatorsports manager. "It's something that we absolutely missed last year. ... But the cutbacks in 2009weren't necessarily supposed to be the new reality, it was justsomethingwe had to do for our current situation," DuPont's revival in 2010 comes at a pivotal time in its sponsorship. having renewed its league deal as the official auto finish, a distinction it has had since 2003. The team deal with Gordon and No. 24 car owner Hendrick Motorsports expires at the end of this year and renewal discussions are ongoing. although it's uncertain if DuPont will maintain its current commitment level as the primary sponsor for 75 percent of Gordon's Sprint Cup races. National Guard and Pepsi are the other sponsors on Gordon's car. DuPont owns thelongest-running driver-sponsowwnerreIationship in NASCAR,havingsponsoredGordon since he first started driving the No. 24 in 1992.The hospitality piece has been a staple of the program since it began. "We look at DuPont as a great indicator of what's happening on the corporate side," said Jerry Caldwell, vice presidentof saIesandmarlret:ing at Bristol Motor Speedway. DuPont did not buy hospitality at Bristol's race earlier this month. but will be entertaining at Bristol for the August race. "When DuPontpuIIed back, we all saw that as a sign of things to corne in:D)9."CaIdwellsaid "Even though they're not back to where theywere, they're coming back and that's the important thing. They know the value and they know it's important to their business. It is an indicator that the economy is slowly turning around" Even though hospitality took a 20 percent to 25 percent hit at most tracks in :m9. Deas said he has not found a significant reduction in rates. It can often cost as much as $5,000to $10,000 to rent a tent, which is just the start of hospitality costs. Bristol's Caldwell said that tracks are focusingon different ways to add value rather than sIashing prices to lure sponsors back. Deas said he didn't find the tracks any more flexible with pricing this year than in previous years. "The initial proposals from the tracks were consistent with the past," he said. 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