As part of a rebranding next year, major Daytona International Speedway sponsor Florida Hospital is buying naming rights to the track’s Speedweeks period and redesigning its “injector” entrance.
The move will include the company soon to be known as AdventHealth buying the presented-by asset to the 2019 season-opening Daytona Speedweeks, which includes the Daytona 500. The deal also includes a multimillion-dollar effort to transform Florida Hospital’s entrance to fit the new AdventHealth brand, and it could be a precursor for additional spending in NASCAR by the Adventist Health System parent company.
Florida Hospital is changing its name to AdventHealth at the turn of the calendar year, and the rebranding effort at Daytona will be completed by the 61st running of the 500 on Feb. 17.
“We wanted to make sure folks knew we were changing as an organization — and with our current existing partnership already in place, we decided we would enhance that to make it more prominent as we continue to grow,” said David Ottati, president and CEO of Adventist Health System’s Central Florida Division-North Region.
The company-wide rebrand involves nearly 50 hospitals across nine states. Adventist works with Aquarius Sports & Entertainment on its motorsports marketing.
Adventist Health System was one of five companies to buy one of the track’s branded injector entrances designed as part of Daytona’s $400 million renovation completed in early 2016. Daytona parent company International Speedway Corp. (Nasdaq: ISCA) sold the branded entrances for $2 million to $2.5 million annually over 10- to 15-year terms. Ottati said the company will spend $1 million to $2 million to rebrand its presence at the track, which includes its 20,000-square-foot entrance.
The presented-by asset that AdventHealth is buying from the track is for multiple years. The price was not disclosed.
As its rebrand begins rolling out, AdventHealth is open to expanding its presence not only with ISC but also with rival track operator Speedway Motorsports Inc. The company already has a team sponsorship with Chip Ganassi Racing.
“The really exciting opportunity for us with this national rebrand is in almost every one of our significant AdventHealth markets, there is a racetrack — either ISC or SMI,” said Anna Donaldson, AdventHealth’s director of sports marketing. “There’s definitely a possibility of how we grow our relationships within motorsports, whether with ISC, SMI or Chip Ganassi Racing; we’re definitely exploring those opportunities.”
