Danica is curtailing NASCAR’s downward spiral
By all measurements, Danica Patrick’s stock car debut last weekend in the ARCA Racing Series presented by RE/MAX and Menards was a smashing success. Danica supporters were no doubt pleased with her 6th-place finish, cable network SPEED enjoyed its largest audience ever to watch an ARCA event, and her team sponsor GoDaddy.com amassed nearly $230,000 of in-broadcast exposure value in the process.
According to research conducted by Joyce Julius & Associates, Inc., which specializes in measuring the scope of sponsorships across all forms of media, Danica’s name was mentioned 25 more times than the winning driver, and in turn, GoDaddy.com was verbally referenced six times during the live race telecast.
Additionally, logos associated with Danica and her crew appeared clear and in-focus for 15 minutes, 43 seconds (15:43). The on-screen time, a direct result of the Danica storyline, is especially impressive considering the top-10 team sponsoring brands during last year’s ARCA Daytona race averaged just 5:10 of camera time.
When comparing the in-broadcast visual and verbal exposure to the estimated cost of a national commercial during the telecast and applying Joyce Julius Recognition Grading—which takes into account such factors as size and placement of the image on screen, as well as brand clutter—GoDaddy.com gathered an exposure value of $90,985 from the SPEED broadcast.
Joyce Julius also monitored ESPN’s SportsCenter during the five days surrounding Danica’s debut, and not surprisingly, GoDaddy.com once again made a significant splash. From the lead up to her first stock car start, to race highlights and her decision to compete in the Daytona NASCAR Nationwide Series race, Danica dominated SportsCenter. All told, GoDaddy.com logos appeared for 12:23, while the brand was verbally mentioned four times, garnering another $137,910 exposure value for the sponsor.
GoDaddy.com ARCA Television Exposure Breakdown
Exposure Source Exposure Time
In-Car Camera 5:37
Hood Identity 3:44
Danica's Uniform 2:23
Rear Quarter Panel Identity 2:06
Television Panel Identity 0:44
Crew Member Uniforms 0:38
Driver Profile Graphics 0:19
Crew Member Hats 0:07
Pit Boards 0:05
Total: 15:43