Publication: NASCAR News
Souvenir makers hopeful Junior's decision comes in summer | |
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NASCAR NEWS - Thursday, May 24, 2007
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Souvenir makers hopeful Junior's decision comes in summer
By David Caraviello, NASCAR.COM
Dale Earnhardt Jr. hasn't set a timetable for his eventual
move to another Nextel Cup organization. But the people
tasked with preparing merchandise, collectables and apparel
in his new team colors -- if those colors change at all --
would love to see NASCAR's most popular driver make a
decision by mid-summer.
That would give Motorsports Authentics enough time to
finalize its design concepts and have Earnhardt's 2008
collection ready to sell when fans and competitors descend
on Daytona International Speedway for next year's opening
race. Earnhardt will leave Dale Earnhardt Inc. when his
contract expires after this season, an impending transition
that leaves his car number and primary sponsor -- two
things that have become as closely tied with the driver
as his last name -- subject to change.
Those are no small details to Motorsports Authentics, the
company created in 2005 through a joint venture between
racetrack empires International Speedway Corp and Speedway
Motorsports Inc., which manufactures die-cast cars,
T-shirts, and everything else bearing the likenesses of
NASCAR drivers. Earnhardt Jr. is the top seller in the
sport, owning more than a quarter of the souvenir and
merchandising market.
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That means there will be plenty of people looking for
Earnhardt merchandise after the move to his new team --
right now, most likely either Richard Childress Racing
or Joe Gibbs Racing -- is complete. Ideally, an announce-
ment in the next few months would give Motorsports
Authentics the lead time it needs to supply it.
"I'd love to have it done by mid-summer," said Ruth
Crowley, president of Motorsports Authentics. "Every
year at this time, there are changes, so it's up to us
to be flexible with the business and with the teams."
Even Earnhardt is aware of the retail ramifications of his
decision. The driver's merchandise sales brought in a
reported $20 million annually to DEI, the team founded by
his late father and now run by his stepmother Teresa.
"Motorsports Authentics, or whoever we're working with,
I guess the die-casts and hats and shirts people, and my
sister [manager Kelley Earnhardt Elledge], and the owner
of the team are going to want to do it in X amount of
days," Earnhardt told reporters at Lowe's Motor Speedway
last week prior to the Nextel All-Star Challenge. "So
we've got this much time to get this much done. But to
me, it's about making sure it's the right decision. And
no matter when that happens, I'll be very, very happy."
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And so likely will be merchandisers selling Earnhardt's
new gear, especially given how the current apparel has
been flying off the shelves since the announcement of
his split from DEI. Crowley's people are ready to move,
already preparing graphics and concepts that can be used
regardless of where the driver winds up, and working on
"about 17 different solutions" to try and stay ahead of
where he'll eventually land.
For marketers, that's the key. Motorsports Authentics can
make tweaks to next year's collection as late as October,
something that's common in NASCAR given how often associate
sponsors are added and the degree of authenticity demanded
by fans. But for a collection that promises to be as
popular and wide-ranging as Earnhardt's, plans are in the
works months ahead of time.
Crowley compares it to her time at Harley-Davidson, where
she served as vice president of general merchandise before
taking over at Motorsports Authentics on March 1. If she
were still with the motorcycle manufacturer, she'd be
putting the finishing touches on the collection for fall
2008. Next month, she'd begin work on spring 2009.
"We'd always have a last-minute dance with some of the
numbers as teams add secondary sponsors," she said.
"But that's part of the assortment. It's not the whole
assortment. Anybody who has been around the retail market
before who's not working on '08 right now is crazy out of
their minds."
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Crowley insists there's no "drop-dead date" by which time
Earnhardt will have to make a decision to get his 2008
apparel and memorabilia collection completed in time for
next season. Like everyone else at Motorsports Authentics,
she'll wait -- and then go to work.
"Sometimes life isn't always comfortable," she said. "The
only time I'll drop dead is when I deliver what everybody
wants in Daytona. There's always time to make things work.
That's not the ideal, but that's our job. The ideal would
be I'd have everything finished by mid-summer."
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