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Race Team Alliance partners with Draft Kings in marketing deal

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The Race Team Alliance, the group of 18 NASCAR Sprint Cup teams that initially formed in 2014 in an effort to help lower costs, has announced its first marketing deal.

The RTA has announced the organization has entered a multi-year marketing deal with Draft Kings Inc., a daily fantasy sports company. According to a press release, along with NASCAR, “the teams will support and promote the free NASCAR game on DraftKings.com with team marks, social and digital media initiatives, and other activation programs.”

The partnership begins Sunday with the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway, which will air on NBC.

“We are thrilled to be partnering with DraftKings, an innovative and fast growing company,” said Rob Kauffman, co-owner of Michael Waltrip Racing and Chairman of the RTA in a press release. “We believe this partnership will be appealing to our existing fan base as well as potentially attracting new ones. The teams look forward to helping promote the new free online fantasy game, and supporting DraftKings as it makes a strong entrance into the sport.”

The RTA consists of every Sprint Cup team except for Furniture Row Racing, which fields the No. 78 of Martin Truex Jr.

A recent ESPN report said team owners and NASCAR have been in discussions regarding the “long-term value” of race teams.

Kauffman appeared on SiriusXm NASCAR Thursday afteroon to further discuss the RTA -Draft Kings deal.

“I think it’s primarily intended to be a commercial space to help facilitate people like Draft Kings or others to get into the sport and grow the sport,” Kauffman said. “I don’t think there’s any intention to, at this stage, for the RTA to be part of the conversation.

Kauffman said RTA is meant to be a low-key part of what makes NASCAR function.

“This business stuff, I’ve used an example, it’s like the plumbing in the walls. As long as it works, it’s good,” Kauffman explained. “My job is to try and make sure we have hot and cold running water and lights come on and off and as long as it works, everything is good. That’s how we try to operate.

“We when we do something publicly, that’s actually done, maybe it’s my background in finance, you don’t really talk about what you’re gonna to do, you talk about what you did.”

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