Straight Talk Wireless has announced a partnership with NASCAR as detailed in this press release from Verizon and in the latest prepaid report from Wave7 Research. The term length of the sponsorship has not been disclosed other than it is a multi-year deal. The sponsorship also makes Straight Talk an Official Partner of Homestead-Miami Speedway, and as a result, the NASCAR Cup Series playoff race slated for October 27, is now the Straight Talk Wireless 400.
Straight Talk Wireless is a Verizon-owned prepaid brand sold exclusively in Walmart stores. NASCAR and Straight Talk have teamed up to showcase "NASCAR on Tour" at a handful of Walmart parking lots in Florida, Georgia, Arkansas, Tennessee, Missouri, Alabama, North Carolina, and South Carolina. The tour will take place from August 21 to October 27 and will feature driver appearances, giveaways, and exclusive special offers including a buy one month get one month free promotion. The Straight Talk Wireless website has all the event stops listed. The first one takes place on August 21 at 2 PM at a Walmart in Daytona Beach, Florida.
NASCAR on Tour isn't the only event Straight Talk is hosting through Walmart. The provider is also offering free ice cream as part of a "Back to School" promotion at a few Walmart locations in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina.
Straight Talk is just the latest of a growing list of wireless providers involved in NASCAR sponsorships over the last few years. To start 2024, Consumer Cellular announced that it signed to be the Official Wireless partner for Brad Keselowski and RFK racing for the 2024 NASCAR season and beyond. Brad and a Consumer Cellular decked-out car have been featured in a Consumer Cellular TV ad.
MobileX sponsored Will Brown and RCR racing earlier this year in his NASCAR Cup Series debut. Brown drove a MobileX-painted Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. Last year, MobileX sponsored Brodie Kostecki in his NASCAR Cup Series debut.
In 2023, Patriot Mobile sponsored JJ Yeley and Rick Ware Racing in the Ally 400 NASCAR race. And in 2021, Boom Mobile sponsored Joey Hand with Rick Ware Racing for a NASCAR event.
It's hard to get a good read on if there's an age demographic wireless providers are trying to target with their NASCAR partnerships. For instance, Statista claims that 57% of USA NASCAR fans are aged 44 or younger, whereas Blackbook Motorsport reports that the bigger percentage of USA fans who watch NASCAR fit into an older demographic.
No matter the demographic, these sponsorships bring the eyes of millions to the sponsors' wireless brands. There are typically several dozen televised NASCAR events per year [1, 2], with an average viewership of around 3 to 4 million and the biggest events drawing in around 6 million or more. However, one author noted, that the average viewership may be around half of what it was ten years ago. NASCAR doesn't release its attendance figures, which have also been dwindling over the years, but some races like the Daytona 500 still attract live audiences of 150k+.
“I think that the NASCAR partnership is a good fit for Straight Talk. Straight Talk is only sold at Walmart, which is a very strong retail brand in rural America. NASCAR is popular in rural areas. This is a good match.” – Jeff Moore, Principal of Wave7 Research