Stock-car racing is widely popular in the U.S. and for most Americans, the sport is synonymous with NASCAR. More than nine in ten (92%) motorsports fans are fans of NASCAR, according to a new research study commissioned by Motor Racing Network (MRN) and fielded by FMR Associates using their Local Radio Analysis (LRA) system.
The study shows NASCAR fans are a lucrative audience for local radio stations. There is a higher portion of 25–54-year-olds among NASCAR fans (50.9%) than in the general population (45%). Over half of NASCAR fans are married and nearly one in four (23%) earn more than $75,000 a year.
Across a host of consumer segments, NASCAR fans outperform the general population. They are more likely to be in the market for a range of consumer purchases in the next six months. Among them are purchasing a new or used car or truck, buying outdoor sports/recreation equipment, investing in outdoor power tools/equipment for home or work or purchasing financial services.
As you’d expect, the sports format delivers a high concentration of motor sports fans. In fact, 61% of sports format listeners are NASCAR fans, the FMR study says. Rock and country stations are big havens for NASCAR fans. But their reach extends far beyond these obvious formats. Christian contemporary and hispanic Tejano formats also appeal to NASCAR fans. Even AC and top 40 stations have a third of their listeners interested in NASCAR. The study finds that “almost every radio format has a large NASCAR fan base listening to it.”
“The spending power and acceptance of the commercialization of NASCAR by its fans, frankly, surprised me,” said Kent Phillips, President, FMR Associates. “It erased any preconceptions I may have had about that audience.”
The study looked specifically at so-called fly over markets, surveying the 120 DMAs not surveyed by Scarborough.