NASCAR events on TNT, NBC, and Fox are all being televised in high definition this year so it’s only fitting that Sony Electronics, the leading maker of HD production gear, steps in and actually sponsors a race.
This Labor Day weekend expect the formerly named Pop Secret 500, held at California Speedway on Sept. 4, to leave the popcorn behind and become the Sony HD 500.
According to Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal, the deal runs through 2006, with 2007 and 2008 being option years.
The deal is estimated to be in the low-to-mid seven figures for each year.
The deal isn’t the first NASCAR relationship for Sony: It is currently an associate sponsor of Penske’s Racing South’s No. 12 Alltel Dodge driven by Ryan Newman. But for the Sony HD 500 it will be the primary sponsor of the re-christened No. 12 Sony HDTV Dodge.
