NASCAR expects lower attendance in 2009

By Ben Klayman

CHICAGO (Reuters) - NASCAR expects attendance at its races this year to fall in the single-digit percentage range as fans deal with the U.S. recession, a top official for the U.S. racing circuit said on Wednesday.

"I think we'll see a similar single-digit decline," NASCAR Chief Marketing Officer Steve Phelps said of 2009 attendance compared with last year. "I don't think it's going to be double-digit.

"That's probably not a dissimilar story from other sports. The economy is going to take a toll. People have less disposable income."

The top Sprint Cup series gets begins Sunday in Florida with the popular Daytona 500 stock-car race and Phelps expects a great season as fans wonder whether driver Jimmie Johnson can win a record-breaking fourth consecutive title or popular rival Dale Earnhardt Jr can finally win his first.

But success on the track will likely not be matched on the business side as both consumers and corporate sponsors dial back spending, Phelps said.

"The competition on the track is what's going to rule the day as it relates to the fan base. On the business side, absolutely it's a hunker-down year out of necessity," he told Reuters in a telephone interview. "Is it a time for expansion and trying to go outside a comfort zone? This is probably not the year to do that."

NASCAR, which boasts a fan base of about 75 million people and large stable of corporate backers, is not alone in its pain. The recession led the National Football League and National Basketball Association to cut jobs and Major League Baseball to freeze its budgets.

While the Daytona 500, dubbed NASCAR's Super Bowl by many analysts, will be viewed by a packed track of more than 200,000 fans, a weak housing market and tight credit markets do not bode well for the rest of the season.