Report: Monster Energy close to NASCAR renewal

The lengthy saga of NASCAR and Monster Energy has gone on longer than any “Will they or won’t they?” subplot on TV, but it appears it may finally come to a happy conclusion very soon.

No NASCAR writer probably figured they would be writing as often about whether Monster Energy would remain as the title sponsor of the sport’s top circuit as they have, but that’s what happens when the process gets long and drawn out. However, there’s more reason than ever to be optimistic about a renewal, one whose announcement could be imminent.

SportsBusiness Daily cites “nearly a dozen sources” in reporting that a renewal deal appears to be close, the best sign yet that everyone hasn’t wasted their time learning to call it the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. The decision was originally scheduled to come by the end of last year, but Monster Energy asked for and received multiple extensions on that deadline.

Giving the beverage company so much time to make up its mind has always been a risk for NASCAR, which faced the prospect of scrambling around midseason to find a new sponsor for 2019 if Monster departed. A renewal will pay off both in terms of patience rewarded and in terms of continuity, something the racing world could really use.

There is one interesting note in the SBD piece as well:

"It could not be determined whether the renewal would be for one or two years, but an extension would of course be a shot in the arm for NASCAR, which did not want to be out on the market looking for a new title sponsor to take over at the start of ’19."

The original deal was reported to be a two-year contract with an option for two more. If a one-year renewal is announced, that could mean that NASCAR was willing to sweeten its side of the bargain by not tying Monster Energy down for as long a period of time in order to convince it to stay — and also means we could be seeing this same song and dance again in less than a year.

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Still, it’s not a stretch to say that everyone in NASCAR from drivers to owners to execs will be happy with a renewal of any length to get this long process behind them for the time being. That includes us NASCAR writers, who won’t have to figure out new ways of talking about the same things for a while. Thank goodness for that.