#1 spectator sport by attendance.
#2 televised sport behind NFL.
"When Bill France Sr. organized NASCAR 55 years ago, he envisioned stock car racing as a nationally embraced. But even he couldn't have foreseen where it is headed in 2003. It has grown into the No. 2 televised sport behind the NFL, funded by more Fortune 500 companies than any other sport, driven by strong fan loyalty (customers who are three times as likely to purchase NASCAR's sponsor's products and services)."
http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/0703/17nasdiv.html
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"There was good news for NBC regarding Daytona 500 ratings.
Sunday's race drew an 11.3 rating, a 23 share and a viewing audience of 37 million, according to fast national data from Nielsen Media Research."
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Beginning as regional entertainment in the Southeastern U.S., NASCAR has grown to become the second most popular professional sport in terms of television ratings inside the U.S., ranking behind only the National Football League.
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INBRED JETS AND GIANTS FANS:
But Michael Printup points to the Nielsen TV ratings for the this year's Daytona 500, which was watched by 402,000 households in Brooklyn, 306,000 households in Queens, and 319,000 households in Manhattan.
"With those three boroughs alone, you're over 1 million households, with 2.3 people per household," Printup said. "The tri-state (New York-New Jersey-Connecticut) area is like 3.7 million fans. That's a big number."
End