Sponsorship: The Money, The Message Or Does It Really Matter?

Throughout each and every event of any given racing season, they are out there: those familiar logos with which every Nascar fan in existence has grown accustomed to seeing--the names of those products, services, organizations and "worthy causes of the week" without which, in essence, the sport as we have come to know and love it simply could not exist.

Sponsors.

They make their presence known at various levels, from the stickers plastered in mandatory locations on the side panels of the cars, to the slightly larger lettering on the rear panels, to the strategically-placed messages viewable from the in-car cameras, to the primary logos visible from the hoods and door panels, and even to the paid "naming rights" for certain tracks, the races themselves and the sport's major series. In short, the characterization of racing as a "200 mph billboard on wheels" (give or take, depending on the length of the individual races) could certainly be considered a rather accurate portrayal, one in which sponsors pay big bucks for the privilege of putting their names out there; where in return, those "big bucks" translate into the teams' and drivers' paychecks; and following those final laps, one in which the drivers very graciously and professionally return those endorsements to the sponsors by means of all those carefully orchestrated "thank-you-laced" interviews.

Let's face it: for as much as we, the fans, love the sport and lend our undying loyalties to our drivers and teams of personal choice, to what extent do we "really" pay attention to the messages behind the respective sponsorships? Has their presence, along with their generous corporate contributions, become so routine as to be taken for granted as mere part and parcel of the overall picture, or do people really take their generosity that deeply to heart? I am speaking, more specifically, of the underlying controversy behind the National Rifle Association's sponsorship of this weekend's Sprint Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway.

From the moment that this particular sponsorship was announced, opinions were divided based on the national attention aimed toward the gun control debate--an issue that has waged for ages but also one which, in the wake of the recent Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy, has assumed an entirely new meaning. Which leaves one to wonder what is really important in the grand scheme of things: the money to fund a single Nascar event in the state of Texas, when it is no secret that our nation's economy--and relative to said economic crisis, the overall economy of the sport--has been struggling for quite some time, or the underlying "message" of protecting our right to bear arms under the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Or does it "really" matter in the end, when all is said and done, the checkers drop, the winner is declared and everyone goes home? How much "weight" at that particular point, does the name, logo or issue "truly" carry?

Consider this, relative to the question at hand: In spite of past controversy stemming from the issues of underage drinking and smoking, or the well-known and proven harmful effects of such habits on "kids" and "responsible adults" alike, were the longtime signature sponsorships from Winston cigarettes and Busch beer subjected to similar disdain? I dare say not, considering the fact that many of the sport's well-seasoned faithfuls "still" catch themselves, to this very day, referring to the Sprint Cup series as "Winston Cup" or to the Nationwide series as the "Busch" series. And in spite of these primary sponsors' withdrawals from Nascar, it is pretty safe to say that in the same sense that smokers continue to smoke and drinkers continue to drink, those who stand on one side or the other of the gun control debate are just as likely to hold steadfast to their personal opinions, irrespective of one particular organization's sponsorship--a "paid" sponsorship, in a very expensive endeavor, mind you--of a single event on the Nascar calendar.

In the final analysis, all that the fans really need to concern themselves with is the survival of their favorite sport during trying times. Don't agree with a "message?" That's fine, because life is all about making choices for ourselves, and in the end, the only thing that should really matter is the true, pure and simple enjoyment of the sport that unites all of us under one common umbrella:

We are "Nascar fans."