Bachelor of Science in Business, Miami University, 2006, School of Business Administration - Marketing

This paper investigates the costs and benefits of NASCAR sponsorship. Sports sponsorship is increasing in popularity as marketers attempt to build more personal relationships with consumers. NASCAR is one of the most lucrative sponsorship venues in professional sports and now claims seventy-five million fans and over one hundred FORTUNE 500 companies as sponsors. This paper investigates sponsorships as well as the fan base targeted by these marketing efforts. Research indicates that NASCAR fans are typically more brand loyal than the average consumer, exhibiting particular loyalty to NASCAR sponsors. The paper further explains who composes the NASCAR fan base. Finally, the paper relates this information to the ultimate goal of a firm: increase shareholder value. Consequently, the paper proposes the use of an event study to measure the impact of NASCAR sponsorship upon stock price of sponsoring companies.

Committee: Timothy Greenlee (Advisor) Subjects: Business Administration, Marketing

PHD, Kent State University, 2016, College of Communication and Information

In this dissertation, I examine women in sport by exploring the case of Danica Patrick as a driver in the National Association for Stock Car Automobile Racing (NASCAR). The broad perspective of socialization undergirds my study as sport is an important area in which individuals are socialized into their gender. From that broad perspective, I address three areas of contemporary understandings: (1) gender and sport in terms of hegemonic masculinity, (2) female athletes as bodies, and (3) sporting heroines as revered role models. To explore the three areas, I adopt a broad case studies approach to bind this unruly real-world phenomenon as well as to offer analysis that is not limited, but guided by and connected with previous examinations and relevant theoretical perspectives. From my analyses of collected data (participant observation and media reports), I offer three key findings and interpretations: (1) Patrick illustrates how hegemonic masculinity may shift and accommodate change, and also how it reasserts itself to justify male domination, (2) she addresses the limitations and tensions embodied by female athletes in terms of intelligible and unintelligible performances, and (3) she demonstrates how sporting heroines, as important role models, simultaneously challenge and uphold gender ideals that limit women. I conclude by asking if women's performances, as erotic heroines and by embodying aspects of physical feminism, may help to challenge what is intelligible and unintelligible.

Committee: Theresa Walton-Fisette Ph.D. (Committee Chair) Subjects: Communication; Sports Management

Master of Arts (MA), Ohio University, 2005, Geography (Arts and Sciences)

Over the last fifty years, the sport of NASCAR has become nationalized, leaving behind the small, Carolina towns where much of the lore and origins of stock car racing began. In 1996, the stock car engines no longer roared at North Wilkesboro Speedway (NWS) as racing ceased to exist after fifty years in the tiny, northwestern North Carolina town of North Wilkesboro. This thesis examines how the loss of NASCAR at North Wilkesboro Speedway has altered the local population's sense of place and self-identity or image. The research in this thesis is based on assessment of editorials, articles, and opinion discussions from two local newspapers, The Record of Wilkes and The Journal-Patriot , and a survey of Wilkes County residents. Further, by attending a NASCAR race weekend in Martinsville, Virginia, a town and speedway very similar to North Wilkesboro, this research gained critical insights and an understanding of what a race weekend would have been like in North Wilkesboro. The local population still feels that North Wilkesboro is a “NASCAR” town since the speedway and its local racing heroes were integral in creating the largest spectator sport in the world. However, overwhelmingly, the local population agrees that the town's image has changed since racing ended at the speedway.

Committee: Timothy Anderson (Advisor) Subjects: Geography