• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, February 16, 2007

Satellite operator Dish Network, with a user-base believed to skew more rural and perhaps have a high appeal among NASCAR fans, has signed on as a major sponsor of ESPN's coverage of the stock car racing competition.

The multi-year agreement covers Dish advertising in all NASCAR races on ESPN networks and ABC, along with exposure on ESPN radio, magazine and Web outlets. There's also sponsorship of a weekly NASCAR feature on the network's flagship "SportsCenter."

But if those are all rather common ESPN ad opportunities, the deal also includes sponsorship of six in-car cameras transmitting coverage in HD during NASCAR Busch Series races; a branded trailer on-site at races known as the "ESPN Dish Tech Center" which will be used by ESPN production crews; and involvement with "pop-up video-style" info blocks appearing on-screen during races with nuggets and tidbits (billed as an "ICON" offering).

Dish, which serves fewer customers in urban areas than competitor DirecTV, views the "tech center" and on-screen initiatives as an avenue to convey a message that it is on the cutting-edge of in-home entertainment, offering a slew of HD channels, DVR options and other services.

"We see this as a great opportunity to reinforce Dish Network's position as a top pay-TV provider that offers choice programming and services including cutting-edge DVR technology," says Carl Vogel, president and vice chairman of parent EchoStar.

Dish Network also sponsors cars in Busch and Nextel Cup races.

As part of a new NASCAR rights deal, the ESPN family of networks and ABC will cover each Busch series race this season, along with the final 17 races of the top-tier Nextel Cup series.

"We work with our customers to break through the clutter and reach fans wherever they consume sports," said Ed Erhardt, president of ESPN Customer Marketing and Sales. "The ICON strategy and our joint-development of the tech trailer are good examples of creating innovative ways to help better explain the sport to both current NASCAR fans and new ones, as well as further integrating and aligning an advertiser into our coverage of the race and into a sport that is so passionately followed."