FLORIDA TOURISM'S DNF: AGENCY OPTS OUT OF NASCAR PROMO

          "Visit Florida," the state's tourism-promotion agency,
     has dropped plans for a promotional deal with NASCAR "after
     some potential sponsors decided race fans didn't fit their
     target market and weren't worth a multimillion-dollar
     marketing campaign," according to Chad Terhune in the
     Southeast edition of today's WALL STREET JOURNAL.  Last
     fall, "Visit Florida" announced its "intention" to host a
     "large promotional tent" at 30 NASCAR races each season for
     three years, but the agency "failed to raise" the $1.2M, or
     half of the first season's budget, as some of FL's tourism
     industry execs "didn't think" NASCAR's audience was "worth
     the investment."  But "Visit Florida" spokesperson Tom
     Flanigan questioned the sponsors' decision: "It's a
     perception thing that NASCAR is lower-middle class, mostly
     rednecks. ... But the research doesn't reflect that." 
     "Visit Florida" COO Bud Nocera, who sought partners since
     last summer, said, "Most of what we heard is that it was too
     rich for most budgets" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 2/24).