By Alicia Jessop, Contributor Three years ago, NASCAR and Walmart joined forces as partners to provide NASCAR fans with an essential one-stop shop for their racing needs.  Developed by Walmart, the “Race Time” platform provides NASCAR fans with the ability to purchase NASCAR tickets, along with merchandise, snacks and beverages to take to the race, during one visit to Walmart.  The partnership between NASCAR and Walmart was born out of both companies’ interest of serving their markets and realization that much of their markets overlap.  “NASCAR fans are Walmart customers, and vice versa.  This partnership means great exposure for the sport.  First and foremost, Walmart delivers a value pack to fans, whether it’s apparel, tailgate needs or tickets, they provide a great value to NASCAR fans,” said NASCAR‘s vice president of licensing and consumer products, Blake Davidson. The birth of the Walmart partnership was predicated upon an internal business decision made by NASCAR.  “Before forming NASCAR Team Properties to consolidate a lot of the merchandising rights in the business, all of our rights from a retail standpoint for our teams were handled individually.  If a company wanted to come in and make products with NASCAR and a driver, they would have to do individual deals with the teams and NASCAR.  NASCAR Team Properties has allowed us to go to the retailers directly as one entity and deliver the sport to them,” Davidson explained.  NASCAR had no problem selling its drivers and their teams on the benefits that NASCAR Team Properties could provide.  “One of the big motivators for the teams to come on board, was the value they could bring back to their sponsors with their cars,” Davidson noted. Once all NASCAR drivers were on board and the structure of NASCAR Team Properties was in place, it was time to hit the market in search of retailers interested in licensing its portfolio.  For NASCAR, Walmart was an ideal partner.  “The way our deal is structured is Walmart has a direct license, so they can source the products to the store,” Davidson explained. When the partnership began, twelve consumer packaged good companies participated in Walmart’s “Race Time” platform, offering various NASCAR inspired products or deals to customers.  The program has grown significantly, as now over 40 consumer packaged goods are featured.  Walmart also sells discounted ticket and food packages to a variety of NASCAR races throughout the year. One way in which NASCAR and Walmart have seen continued growth of the partnership is through heavily involving NASCAR fans in the retail experience.  37 weeks out of the year, Walmart hosts various NASCAR promotion and activation events at its stores.  These events range from special product deals to hosting in-store events featuring drivers and their teams.  Davidson notes that this heavy activation structure not only benefits Walmart from a business standpoint, but also increases the visibility of NASCAR, its drivers and their sponsors.  “The great thing for the teams and sport, is the brands that participate in the sport sell products at Walmart.  Whether that’s Coca-Cola, Miller …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest