Daytona 500: who watches and which sponsors win

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With NASCAR putting pedal to the metal this weekend with the 51st annual Daytona 500, two sports marketing research firms have offered up a pile of data about who watches the race broadcasts and which corporate sponsors arguably benefit by paying big bucks to put their logos on the drivers and their cars.

There are no surprises when it comes to the media markets with the highest average household ratings for NASCAR broadcasts. The top five NASCAR markets from 1999 to 2008 were Greenville, S.C. (a 23.8 average household rating), Greensboro, N.C. (22.4), Orlando, Fla. (20.0), Charlotte, N.C. (19.6), and Knoxville, Tenn., (19.4), according to data released by Nielsen Media Research.

But in sheer numbers, Nielsen notes, the Big Apple lays claim to the viewership crown.

Greenville is a smaller market, so the average number of households watching during the last decade was 195,000. New York City is the lowest-ranked market of the 56 that Nielsen monitors for NASCAR broadcasts, but an average of 326,000 homes tuned in for NASCAR broadcasts over the last decade. Philadelphia (266,000 homes) and Chicago (233,000 households) also ended up in the top 10 list last season.

Nielsen reports that, nationwide, an average of 17.8 million viewers watched Ryan Newman win last year’s Daytona race.

Of course, who’s watching drives another important measure -- the estimated value for corporate sponsors whose logos are seen during broadcasts.

Market research firm Joyce Julius & Associates estimated the value of Newman’s victory last year for his primary sponsor, Alltel, at $18.3 million. The Ann Arbor, Mich.-based firm arrives at that value by determining how long the Alltel logo appeared during the broadcast and how much it would cost to buy a like amount of commercial time.

By the firm’s count, Alltel was on screen for about 17 1/2 minutes. It also was mentioned four times by the announcers.

-- Greg Johnson