Six weeks ago, Pittsburgh-based PNC Bank backed local auto racing team owner Chip Ganassi.
Now, it's going full-circuit.
This morning in Charlotte, N.C., PNC and NASCAR announced a five-year agreement introducing PNC as the “Official Bank of NASCAR” and “Official Wealth Management Partner of NASCAR,” affording the financial giant exclusive status and promotional rights for retail, corporate and private banking across the country and U.S. military bases abroad. PNC also will offer its services within the NASCAR industry to drivers, teams, tracks and sponsors.
Terms of the agreement weren't disclosed, but it notably marks PNC's first agreement with any sports league.
"We just think there's a great alignment between the markets they're in and us growing our business nationally," Terry Begley, PNC's head of corporate banking and the architect of the deal, told DKPittsburghSports.com. "We're growing into places like Dallas and Denver and Tennessee and Kansas City, and we think we can use their venues to entertain our clients with a really high-end experience. And we just think our values as main-street banking and main-street America align really well with NASCAR and their huge fan base, as well."
Since 2016, PNC has expanded into the Dallas Metroplex, Minnesota's Twin Cities, Kansas City, Nashville, Denver, Houston and Jacksonville, among other cities.
"PNC Bank has a trusted reputation and national reach," said Steve Phelps, NASCAR's chief global marketing officer. "Like many blue-chip brands, we're thrilled PNC sees the value of the NASCAR fan."
They're hardly alone. With PNC's addition, NASCAR now counts one of every four Fortune 500 companies as an investor.
Here's the video shown at the press conference:
