SPORTS WRAP Daytona 500 Goes ‘Green’

This weekend, NASCAR revs up its 2009 season with its most popular race, the Daytona 500. And when it comes to the race’s TV ratings, it’s clear that NASCAR likes to go “Green.”

In an analysis of the last ten Daytona 500s, Greenville, SC and Greensboro, NC emerged with the highest average household ratings among metered markets of 23.8 and 22.4, respectively. Rounding out the top five over that same time period are Orlando (20.0), Charlotte (19.6), and Knoxville (19.4).

But it’s not just Southern cities that are captivated by NASCAR’s season opener. Though it’s ranked the lowest among the 56 metered markets in terms of household rating, New York City ranks first in terms of total household impressions with an average of 326,000 homes tuning in to the last ten races. Philadelphia (266,000 homes) and Chicago (233,000) are two other cities above the Mason-Dixon Line in the top-10 of markets showing strong average household interest in the Great American Race.

Ryan Newman won last year’s Daytona before an average of 17.8 million viewers. At its peak, the 2008 race had a 13.0 HH rating with 22.8 million sets of eyes watching. HD-capable homes were 22% more likely to watch last year’s Daytona than the total U.S. average.

Perhaps most excited for the new season are NASCAR advertisers. Whether it’s naming rights to various races, to patches on crew members’ uniforms, to logos emblazoned on the cars themselves, it’s no secret that NASCAR is an attractive vehicle for marketing products. According to Nielsen, NASCAR fans spend about 10% more on consumer-packaged goods than non-fans. Additionally, avid NASCAR fans are 4 times more likely than casual NASCAR fans to purchase a product endorsed by a NASCAR driver.