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Denny Hamlin says moving more races back to broadcast TV could cost teams money they can’t afford to lose, and he questioned how many teams would survive if the next NASCAR TV deal traded rights fees for exposure.
Hamlin, who co-owns 23XI Racing, made the comments to Racing America’s Matt Weaver at Talladega Superspeedway, in a clip posted on X.
https://x.com/MattWeaverRA/status/2114070200710525309
Hamlin: ‘How many survive that?’
Hamlin said he raised concerns when NASCAR’s current deals cut the number of Cup races on broadcast networks. Asked whether more broadcast races could mean smaller payments to teams, he described a hypothetical.
“What if NASCAR said, hey, we’re going to be on all networks, but your payments are going to be half of what they were?” Hamlin said. “The team’s, I mean, I don’t know, how many survive that?”
Asked how NASCAR could manage that kind of change, Hamlin said: “No idea. I’m not smart. Yeah, no idea.”
“If that’s the route, then it has to, there has to be a reset, then it’s just going to be a survival of the fittest, who can survive,” he said.
Hamlin also said races on broadcast networks could give sponsors more exposure, which could help teams make up some of the lost revenue.
The current NASCAR TV deal
NASCAR’s current media-rights agreements began in 2025 and run through 2031. They split Cup Series coverage among Fox, NBC, Amazon Prime Video and TNT Sports, so many races air on cable or streaming instead of over-the-air broadcast TV.
Chartered teams such as 23XI receive a share of that media money each year, which is why Hamlin said any change in how races are distributed has to account for team payments.
Hamlin’s Chase
Hamlin is fourth in the Chase standings, 31 points behind leader Kyle Larson, and starts ninth in Sunday’s YellaWood 500. The race starts at 2 p.m. ET on NBC, one of the network broadcasts in this year’s schedule.
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