Report: Monster wants extension to decide on picking up Cup Series option

Nick Bromberg
·College football and motorsports writer
Could Monster be two-and-done as a NASCAR Cup Series sponsor? (Getty)
Could Monster be two-and-done as a NASCAR Cup Series sponsor? (Getty)

Monster Energy apparently wants to take some more time to decide if it wants to continue being the sponsor of the Cup Series.

According to Sports Business Journal, the company has asked for an extension from NASCAR regarding its two-year option. Monster is currently in the first year of a two-year deal to sponsor the Cup Series. The deal has a two-year option and Monster was set to make a decision on that option by December.

The news of the reported extension request comes as NASCAR got thrust into the middle of President Donald Trump’s anthem debate thanks to comments by Richard Childress and Richard Petty.

The news also comes as television ratings for the first two races of the playoffs have cratered. Per Sports Media Watch, the races at Chicago and New Hampshire could potentially be the lowest-rated races dating back to 2000.

Monster is reportedly only paying $20 million in rights fees to NASCAR for the Cup Series sponsorship, a drastic decrease from what Sprint had been paying to be NASCAR’s top sponsor.

We wrote less than two weeks ago that NASCAR’s main goal for the 2017 playoffs should simply be to stay out of its own way. With spoiler-altering allegations at Chicago, insipid anthem protest threats and now news that Monster wants to be more deliberate with its decision to keep sponsoring the Cup Series, the premise of our column has already been trashed and left in tatters on the floor.

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Nick Bromberg is the editor of Dr. Saturday and From the Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!