Just a sign of the times

— -- NASCAR chairman Brian France sat on a stage at Daytona International Speedway in July of 2007 and steadfastly refuted the notion that three name changes in six years to the title sponsorship of his top-tier series projected an image of volatility, if not diminished luster, after decades of steady growth.

R.J. Reynolds had departed in 2003 after 34 seasons of promoting its Winston cigarette brand through NASCAR, replaced under a 10-year contract by cellular service provider Nextel in 2004, which would become Sprint in 2008 after a merger.

The NASCAR brand had proved, France said, valuable. No change of title sponsors or their names would negatively impact that.

France would likely convey the same message after the announcement on Tuesday that Sprint will not renew as title sponsor once its three-year extension expires after the 2016 season.

His point is bolstered by a monstrous television contract negotiated in his term that will yield a monetary bounty for the series founded by his grandfather.

But with about 18 months to acquire a new benefactor, France faces a process that could go far in determining whether the series maintains its status as a major league enmeshed with Fortune 500 America or recesses into a niche sport.

Title sponsors do more than pump cash into points funds and commission mass amounts of television ads. They help set the tenor for how a series is perceived. And for a series very much in flux in that regard, acquiring a next proxy is a monumental task.

It's apparently an endeavor that NASCAR is not undertaking alone. Texas Motor Speedway president Eddie Gossage said in a statement on Tuesday that "NASCAR has reached out in advance to industry people like myself to assist them in identifying a replacement title sponsor."

Gossage said in the release the series needs "an active, supportive and long-term sponsor with broad consumer reach and minimal category conflict that proves beneficial to the entire industry in the future." "Category conflict" as in not obliterating existing relationships with current partners, as happened with other telecommunications companies upon Nextel's entry.

There should be suitors, said Zak Brown, founder of Just Marketing International, which was involved in an IndyCar search for a title sponsor that eventually culminated in Verizon's acquisition.

He called NASCAR "one of the biggest sports in the country and a fantastic opportunity for a big bold marketer to sponsor."

"It's a great fit for a big consumer brand and I suspect NASCAR will be able to replace them," he said in an email to ESPN.com. "It is a great opportunity for the right company and I'm sure NASCAR will find that company."

NASCAR was able to do so with Comcast Corp. and its Xfinity brand when Nationwide announced it would depart as title sponsor of the sport's top developmental series to focus more on Sprint Cup marketing beginning next season. Camping World, sponsor of the Truck Series, is signed through 2022.

Sprint Vice President of Marketing Steve Gaffney said "the NASCAR sponsorship property has been a valuable investment for us and will be for our successor."

Replacing any sponsor is a nettlesome task, but re-branding its top series will be an exercise in business and perception for NASCAR. With the series having moved in marketing and mindset from denim to more of a jaunty tweed since the departure of Winston, wooing a title sponsor with the resources and the image necessary to keep up appearances will be crucial, especially with coveted but fickle younger fans.

The megastore with the cheap toilet paper might not be cool enough. Going from one of the world's largest telecommunications companies to a more bucolic sponsor could induce mockery in the mainstream.

It's not a problem likely to arise, said David Carter, executive director of the University of Southern California Sports Business Institute. Because NASCAR's business model is so tethered to sponsorship, he said, the series has "historically, very successfully serviced their corporate partners and they have proved there is value attached to NASCAR."

So the series, he said, should have options.

"Not that this would happen, but if they go a year or two without a major bellwether sponsor to come in and they eventually settle with something that would be a second-tier sponsor or something far less national, then I think people would scratch their heads," he said. "But this, I think you just have to look at the overall state of the sponsorship landscape."

Brown and Carter agree that Sprint's departure is not necessarily any indication of displeasure with NASCAR. Brett Jewkes, Cup series senior vice president and chief communications officer, said in a statement NASCAR can "understand significant changes within Sprint and the highly competitive business environment."

The company was sold, its hierarchy restructured and more than 1,500 laid off within the past two years and Sprint is currently facing Federal Communications Commission fines in excess of $100 million for illegal consumer practices, according to Bloomberg.

Title sponsors are tasked with branding and marketing the series externally and funding points pools for drivers, and Nextel/Sprint reportedly paid in excess of $75 million annually for that right.

"All sponsorships eventually come to an end," Brown said.  "Sprint has some significant business challenges and NASCAR must not fit in with their future strategy. That's not a poor reflection on NASCAR. It's probably the business reality Sprint finds itself in."

NASCAR's business reality therefore hasn't changed.  Just the signage ... again.