Fanatics ending trackside deal with NASCAR early

With Danica and Dale Jr. gone from NASCAR, merchandising sales have taken a real hit

The NASCAR industry in '19 will go back to the era of having different merchandisers after unsuccessful attempt at finding an industrywide solution.

Fanatics is terminating its NASCAR trackside deal after this year, according to sources, marking an early end to what was originally a 10-year deal that was set to run through '24. Fanatics started managing the at-venue merchandise sales efforts for almost the entire sport starting in '15 as part of a deal that was supposed to be lucrative for Fanatics and revolutionary for the NASCAR industry, which transitioned from using haulers to a tent model for the first time in its history.

However, amid sagging attendance that has negatively impacted the original financial projections for the deal, Fanatics apparently tried to restructure the deal recently. When it was unable to do so, the company decided to nix the entire deal, which includes more than a dozen additional contracts with individual tracks.

Fanatics declined to comment, but NASCAR President Steve Phelps confirmed the news in a statement Friday to THE DAILY. He wrote, "In collaboration with teams and tracks, we are in the process of finalizing a plan for a new trackside merchandise model for 2019 that will serve and engage fans at racetracks across the country. Although Fanatics has decided to discontinue its trackside relationship, we look forward to continuing our long-term ecommerce partnership as they continue to enhance the ever-growing online and mobile platforms for many more years." Sports Business Daily