NASCAR
Managing Director of Integrated Marketing Communications David Higdon commented
today on Connecticut Sen. Christopher Murphy’s request that News Corp.
CEO Rupert Murdoch pull the plug on Saturday night’s FOX broadcast of the
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series NRA 500 at
Texas Motor Speedway.
“NASCAR has no official
position on the gun rights debate,” said Higdon. “Our fans, racing teams and
industry partners come from all walks of life, and thus have varying points of
views and opinions. As a sport, we are in the business of bringing people together
for entertainment, not political debate.
“Race entitlement partnerships are agreements directly between the track and sponsor. NASCAR reserves the right to approve or disapprove those sponsorships. The NRA's sponsorship of the event at Texas Motor Speedway fit within existing parameters that NASCAR affords tracks in securing partnerships. However, this situation has made it clear that we need to take a closer look at our approval process moving forward, as current circumstances need to be factored in when making decisions.”
“Race entitlement partnerships are agreements directly between the track and sponsor. NASCAR reserves the right to approve or disapprove those sponsorships. The NRA's sponsorship of the event at Texas Motor Speedway fit within existing parameters that NASCAR affords tracks in securing partnerships. However, this situation has made it clear that we need to take a closer look at our approval process moving forward, as current circumstances need to be factored in when making decisions.”
If they are going to "take a closer look" at the approval process, a lot of sponsorships are going to bite the dust. No more beer sponsorships because their are thousands of drunk driving deaths each year. No more Cabelas, Bass Pro Shop, or Gander Mountain sponsorships because they sell a lot of firearms each year. And being that NASCAR was sponsored by a tobacco company for close to 30 years and tobacco causes cancer, heart disease, and other health problems I guess they should allow an organization that has 5 million+ members and spent over 1 million dollars to sponsor a race. Funny, I don't remember anybody complaining when they sponsored a nationwide race last year.
ReplyDeleteyou know the NRA is the american people. i as a nascar fan love the fact they sponsered the race
ReplyDeletethanks Don Henley
The NRA isn't me. I don't care that they sponsored the race. It won't make me want to go out and get a gun, it'll just make me roll my eyes and move on about my life.
DeleteYep.
DeleteIf they ever cancel a sponsorship because of political reasons, tragedy or not, kiss this fan goodbye.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you mean we need to take a closer look at the approval process?? There isnt a darn thing wrong with the NRA sponsoring this race. The have every right, just as LaRaza has the right to sponsor a race. AND they wanted it not to be broadcast because the gun control debate this week....I feel its safe to assume that when they signed the deal as the sponsor of this race weeks ago, The NRA had no idea this was the week Congress was to take up this debate. In fact, no one has any idea what Congress is going to do, including Congress themselves.
ReplyDeleteCongress not only doesn't have an idea, they are clueless.
DeleteThe buying public will determine who wants to sponsor.
Reassessing leads to caving.
In other words, Connecticut Sen. Christopher Murphy is asking NASCAR to bow to his point of view in a political process rather than allowing the 1st Amendment to stand. Interesting... The Senator is ripping two Amendments at the same time. Is he representing the people or an agenda?
ReplyDeleteSomeone needs to explain to Senator Murphy that there is a document in the archives in Washington that ned obviously needs to read.
ReplyDeleteI like NRA sponsorship, they should take opertunity to get thier message out about gun safety and resposible storage.
ReplyDeleteSenator Murphy has his opinion which is related the action taken by Connecticut. There are those of us who believe the Connecticut laws will not take guns from those who have no respect for the laws in general or those who are incapable of rational thinking. For NASCAR to succumb to the beliefs of a group who probably consider NASCAR racing not worthy of their attention will be a huge disservice to the NASCAR fan base.
ReplyDeleteTo put it another way, the Senator and his group likely thinks we are all a bunch of Rednecks who are ignorant and they are the righteous ones that we must follow or they will belittle us.
Well, my opinion is that the Connecticut laws are just feel good laws and they should have only enforced the laws they had in existence. I also believe that a poll of NASCAR fans would show that we are generally pro-gun.
As a long time NASCAR fan (long before NASCAR became cool and big money) I would be very upset if NASCAR caved in to the Senator.
Nascar needs to stop worrying about what everyone thinks! Do we forget that this sport was started my moonshiners! NASCAR stop being the WWE
ReplyDeleteThanks Wesley
More people die from texting related accidents than guns. Time to rethink that Sprint sponsorship?
ReplyDeleteMr Higdon,
ReplyDeleteAs we speak, even Denny Hamlin is enduring a healthier state of backbone. You're fired.
Good day, Sir!