NASCAR Nation

NASCAR came up multiple times in our work with Brenda's class and they just signed an 8-year TV contract worth $4.4B. So I thought it would be worth understanding this organization a little better. Here are a few highlights (most courtesy of Hoover's)

• NASCAR claims to have 75 million fans
• NASCAR was founded in 1948 by Bill France Sr. and is still owned by the France family
• Networks have been losing money on the NASCAR broadcasts
• Nextel payed $750M for it's 10-year sponsorship deal (replacing Winston)
• In addition to the insanely popular Nextel Series, NASCAR runs the Busch Series and Craftsman Truck Series
• The Nextel Cup Series draws more than 7 million fans a year at races

As a private company, it is difficult to get much inside information on the company although it did claim to have less than 500 employess in 2002 and showed $3B in revenue. It seems like a lot of money left to go around in a private company. I wonder if there are any single daughters remaining in the France family?

In the last year, I have worked with a mobile phone video company and an Internet TV company and in both cases, we approached NASCAR about deals. And in both cases, NASCAR had already built the internal capabilities beyond what most companies could offer. NASCAR is very aggressive in new technology and new distribution. I'd say that NASCAR Nation is likely to grow for years to come.

posted by Corey on 12/11/2005 05:05:00 AM
permalink: NASCAR Nation