STUDY: NASCAR SPONSORSHIPS BRING GREATEST STOCK INCREASE
 
Source: The Business Journal, Kansas City
 
(February 22, 2005) A new study concludes that 24 companies that made NASCAR sponsorships between 1995 and 2001 enjoyed an average increase in stock value of $324 million.
 
Stephen Pruitt, a professor of business and economics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City's Henry W. Bloch School of Business and Public Administration, co-wrote the study. T. Bettina Cornwell of the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, and John M. Clark of the University of Southern Mississippi co-wrote the study with Pruitt. The three universities financed the study.
 
"When you line things up the way we do, the only commonality among these firms is that they all made a NASCAR announcement," Pruitt said Tuesday. Pruitt said he was surprised to find a correlation between NASCAR sponsorships and higher stock prices of the sponsoring companies.
 
"This is part of a stream of research I've been doing for a number of years on sponsorships' effects on stock prices," he said. "I thought we'd see a decrease in the stock price."NASCAR sponsorships have a more positive effect on sponsoring companies' stock prices than stadium naming rights, Pruitt said.
 
"We're always asking the question in business, 'What really pays off?'" Pruitt said. "This is a case where somebody is spending a lot of money on a sponsorship and getting a very good return."
 
Related: USA Today- NASCAR Sponsorship Revs Stocks' Engines
 
WHAT ABOUT THE WOMEN?
 
Did you know? According to NASCAR, there are 30 million women fans of the sport, up 20% from 1998. That represents 40% of NASCAR's 75 million fans. On average, over 2.6 million women tuned into each Cup series event in 2004, a 5% increase over 2003. The # of women viewers between ages 18 & 34 from 2004 to 2005 jumped 10% & the # of women viewers between ages 18 & 49 increased 8%. Those two figures represent the largest increase in television viewership for the series.
 

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