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Monster Energy can provide NASCAR with large social media influence

NASCAR, Monster Energy Announce Premier Series Entitlement Partnership

LAS VEGAS, NV - DECEMBER 01: Brian France, NASCAR Chairman and CEO, and Mark Hall, Chief Marketing Officer of Monster Beverage Co., toast during a press conference as NASCAR and Monster Energy announce premier series entitlement partnership at Wynn Las Vegas on December 1, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Monster Energy, which will begin its tenure as naming rights partner on Jan. 1, 2017, will become only the third company to serve as the entitlement sponsor in NASCAR premier series history, following RJ Reynolds and Sprint/Nextel. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images)

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NASCAR’s quest for a big push on social media received a huge boost with Thursday’s announcement of Monster Energy as the new entitlement sponsor of the sport’s premier series.

Monster Energy not only has one of the most recognizable brands in sports and entertainment, it also has a large social media following. It grew only larger following NASCAR’s announcement in Las Vegas.

At 4 p.m. when it began to trickle out that the announcement was coming, many fans, track pages, PR representatives and media members were already flocking to follow Monster Energy. It didn’t hurt that Brad Keselowski gave Monster Energy early support by tweeting, “Think I might start following @MonsterEnergy. Seems like a good group.”

Here were the social media numbers of Monster Energy at that time:

Twitter - 3,262,724 followers

Facebook - 24,837,302 likes

Their numbers are larger, especially on Facebook, than NASCAR’s social media pages. With the sport pushing that fans are consuming NASCAR on digital platforms as opposed to just television, any push by Monster Energy will help the sport reach a wider audience.

NASCAR on social media:

Twitter - 2,995,164

Facebook - 4,656,529

Monster also has a huge edge over the former entitlement sponsor, Sprint. With a presence at the track through Miss Sprint Cup, the sponsor used that to help promote the sport and its programs on social media.

Miss Sprint Cup on social media:

Twitter - 135,776

Facebook - 1,289,506

Monster Energy has its version of grid girls, which were present at the announcement. The Monster Energy Girls Facebook page has 833,067 likes.

The Monster Energy pages continued to grow following the announcement.

It will certainly make NASCAR happy as digital media remains one of its priorities. Even better, with Monster Energy endorsing athletes and other sports throughout the country, NASCAR is in a position to receive cross promotion.

Follow @KellyCrandall