by Jordan Neylon

If you’re a major sports fan like me, you know that one of the best parts of attending a live event is the tailgate. The smell of burgers on the grill, music from car speakers, the sound of bean bags hitting the cornhole board, and of course, all the Brand Ambassadors walking around and handing out their goodies! Thanks to COVID-19, tailgating looked a little different at the Foxwoods 300 in Loudon, NH this year and so did the race itself. Even though the Speedway looked bare without all the branded tents, it did not look much different when it came to social distancing and following the guidelines of the CDC.

I’ve been going to New Hampshire Motor Speedway since I was a kid and every year there are a million things to do! From driver meet and greets, special passes to walk around the garages, pre-race concerts, and tents filled with things to sample, take home, and promote. Usually, we see brands like Toyota, Twisted Tea, Goodyear, and more; but this year we saw nothing. Even though COVID-19 has severely impacted the events industry (amongst everything else), there were plenty of missed opportunities to safely promote at the race! People were still out tailgating ahead of their race- whether they were in their cars or outside under their canopy tents. The opportunity to safely take a survey or hand out closed samples was there! Not to mention, the walkway up to the track was a big empty space – plenty of room for some socially distant, branded tents. All it would have taken would be some great Brand Ambassadors, face masks, and some line management! If you’re thinking of how to get your brands back out there and activate safely, be sure to check out Hype!’s COVID-19 Events Resource Pages in the menu bar above. We’re here to help you navigate through these challenges!