• Ad Age, Tuesday, November 28, 2006 12 PM

After a six-year run where it lapped all other professional sports except football in popularity and TV viewers, Nascar is suddenly having to market itself. The easy ride looks to be over, as average TV ratings for the 10 final races of the season, dubbed the "Chase for the Cup," dropped 10%, and 31 of the 36 races drew lower TV ratings this year than in 2005.

And though Nascar doesn't release attendance, there were clearly empty pockets of seats at several recent races. Combine the ratings falloff with the sport's freshly inked eight-year, $4.48 billion TV deal with ABC/ESPN--40% higher than the previous agreement with NBC and Fox--and this week's annual post-season celebration of cocktail parties and driver appearances starts to look more like work.

"This is the time for Nascar to set the stage for next year," says the CMO of a prominent sponsor. "I do think there's a sense of taking measures or precautions to nip this thing in the bud before it gets out of hand."

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