Auto racing experts believe Comcast Xfinity is the lead candidate to replace Nationwide as NASCAR’s secondary series title sponsor, although the opportunity won’t come cheap.

Nationwide announced late last year that it would end its title sponsorship of NASCAR’s secondary series after seven seasons to focus on Sprint Cup and individual drivers. According to an article in Sports Business Journal, NASCAR is looking for a deal worth about $30 million a year, between the title sponsorship itself and media and activation commitments. In addition to Comcast, brands such as AutoZone and Subway have also been rumored as potential sponsors.

“It makes a lot of sense to have Xfinity in a lot of ways because NBC has its NASCAR rights back next year,” says Bob Pockrass, Sporting News’ NASCAR writer and the National Motor Sports Press Association’s writer of the year. “Obviously, if they’re going to be carrying [the races], they’re going to want those races viewed as much as possible.”

Asked to handicap the likelihood that Comcast takes over the sponsorship, Pockrass put the chances at 65%.

Mike Larson, associate sports editor at AutoWeek, concurs. “Both sides are being pretty tight-lipped on it,” Larson says. “From everything I’ve heard, Comcast is the frontrunner.”

Requests to Comcast for comment weren’t returned at press time.

The new deal will be worth much more than the 2008 deal with Nationwide, which was worth a reported $10 million a year with a 6 percent annual increase after that, as well as about $5 million in advertising buys on ESPN as part of the deal, as reported by the now-defunct NASCAR Scene at the time.

“When you’re asking for that much money, there’s only going to be a handful of businesses that have the capital and the marketing budget to do it,” says Larson. “For a media company to be in it [would be] a great thing for NASCAR.”

A media monolith such as Comcast would be well-positioned to make the most of those marketing and activation requirements, especially since it’s already going to be partnered with NASCAR for coverage of many series events.

Next year, NBCUniversal will carry the final 19 Nationwide events in addition to 20 Sprint Cup events across NBC and NBC Sports Network. The new deal will run through 2024. The first half of the Nationwide events will air on Fox Sports 1.

Although the Nationwide series doesn’t have the star power of Sprint Cup, it gives sponsors a chance to introduce themselves to NASCAR fans and align early on with some of the sports’ up-and-coming stars. Current points leader, 18-year-old Chase Elliott, secured a sponsorship with NAPA Auto Parts prior to this year. It’s not a stretch to assume NAPA would continue that sponsorship should Elliott progress to Sprint Cup in the next few years.

“I think the Nationwide Series is only a short step for him,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. told ESPN at the time Elliott joined the secondary series. “He’s that good.”

And thus lies the main challenge for a title sponsor. Like minor league baseball, Nationwide is a developmental league. The best drivers aren’t going to stick around that long.

“The challenge for a marketer is your lineup is always changing,” says Pockrass. “You’re always having to adapt and change and find what fits the personalities and dynamics of the series on a year-to-year basis.”

But there are some inherent benefits to the secondary series sponsorship. In addition to the chance to align with younger stars, Nationwide is also the only one of the big three racing series that people refer to by it’s full name.

“People call the Camping World Truck Series ‘the Truck Series’ and Sprint Cup has switched so much…people just call it ‘The Cup,’” says Larson. “But people called it Nationwide because there’s nothing else to call it.”

It’s also a unique opportunity for a sponsor to develop long-term awareness in the sport. Since the series’ inception in 1982, there have been just two sponsors, Anheuser-Busch (1982-2007) and Nationwide (2008-2014). One would assume NASCAR would be looking for another partner willing to make a long-term commitment to the sport.

For advertisers who don’t win out this time, there are more opportunities coming up right around the corner. Camping World’s Truck Series sponsorship runs out after the 2015 season and Sprint’s deal with the Cup Series ends after 2016.

As for a timetable on when a deal could be finalized, Pockrass believes there isn’t immediate urgency, but the sooner the better.

“You want to start developing a marketing plan,” he says. “If you’re going to start a series in February, you have to start on how you’re going to activate this plan five to seven months before…If you get this done in December, that doesn’t give you a whole lot of time.”

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