NASCAR Has a Marketing Problem

From the mid-1990s to the early 2000s, NASCAR exploded in popularity.

Click here to read the story at frontstretch.com.

Discussion Questions:

1. How do you think the popularity of a sports property like NASCAR is measured?
2. Why do you think NASCAR exploded in popularity in the early 2000s?
3. Why do you think its popularity has since declined?
4. What are ratings and why do they matter to NASCAR?
5. Why do you think ratings have declined in the last ten years?
6. The headline of this story suggests NASCAR has a marketing problem. What does that mean?
7. What is the difference between the marketing of sports and marketing through sports?
8. Which best describes this news story?
9. What might better marketing do to help draw bigger crowds at NASCAR events?
10. Why is attendance important at NASCAR events?
11. Why is sponsorship important to NASCAR?
12. How might a shrinking fanbase impact NASCAR’s ability to sell sponsorships?
13. If you were a marketing professional working for NASCAR, what would you do to reinvent the league and its events to help boost popularity?
14. How might that impact attendance, ratings, and sponsorship and why is that important to NASCAR?