Denny Hamlin calls out $7.7bn NASCAR mistake and identifies major solution

Denny Hamlin does not agree with the way NASCAR operates, and we can add this season’s disastrous TV ratings to the rapsheet.

Things reached a new low for NASCAR viewership last weekend when the Cup Series playoff race at New Hampshire drew just 1.29million fans - a huge drop from the 1.79million who tuned in back in 2024.

This was not just an isolated incident either - instead it merely continued a very worrying trend as the fanbase continues to complain about everything from the Next Gen car to the much-maligned postseason format.

Hamlin has many thoughts on the issue, not surprising as he and 23XI Racing co-owner Michael Jordan prepare for the championship rounds in their legal antitrust suit vs NASCAR. But there is one thing that he believes MUST be done to improve TV numbers.

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Hamlin: Sunday afternoons are a NASCAR TV killer

“I don’t see how Sunday afternoon is an option,” Hamlin explained on the Actions Detrimental podcast. The 44-year-old believes it is time to stop going head-to-head with sport’s 600-pound gorilla, the NFL, and he gave one specific reason.

“What has driven NFL’s popularity? It’s fantasy teams and it’s sports betting. At 3 o’clock, you’re about to go to the cashing window or you’re about to throw your ticket in the dumpster.”

Aside from very specific issues like start times, Hamlin believes there are wider, more general concerns about the trajectory of NASCAR in the TV marketplace.

The Joe Gibbs Racing great believes there are too many races and also does not like the impact of the sport's current $7.7billion rights agreement, which runs through 2031.

Prioritizing dollars over eyeballs

Hamlin believes that deal prioritized the biggest dollar number over the potential eyeballs on the sport, with all Cup Series playoff races now airing on USA network.

“Just not good. I don’t know. We [NASCAR] signed the deal that we signed,” Hamlin explained.

“We obviously lost a significant amount of network races in this TV deal. You know, in each one of the TV deals that we’ve signed over the last few years, or the past few agreements that we’ve had, we’ve always just taken the most amount of money. You know what I mean?

"It’s not been about what’s going to put us in the most households. You know, we were guinea pigs to get channel X off the ground, channel Y off the ground.

“You’re asking so much of your fans to just keep chasing you around all these different networks, and I know it’s not that hard. I think that, Eric Estepp, actually, when he kinda broke down what he thought the reasonings were, I agreed with him.

"There’s lots of things. I think that there’s, I’m very steadfast that there’s only so many sports eyeballs. People that love sports love sports. And sometimes, you’re just watching what’s on sports.

"When the NFL has taken such a lion’s share of those eyes right now, record-setting every single week, people just, that’s their priority. If football’s not on, I think you’ve got a legitimate shot of being the next in line. But going head-to-head, it’s just going to be a tough road.”

Can NASCAR own Friday nights?

So if Sundays, and in particular Sunday afternoons, should be off limits for NASCAR, when can it claim a good portion of the TV pie?

Hamlin reasoned: “Can I ask a question? Maybe just a theoretical and they’ll hit us up in the comments. Why not own like Friday night? Like, Friday is … I’m just, would you say anything is better than Sunday?

“I’m just saying it’s not a school night. It definitely would be harder for those that travel, so you don’t want to just alienate them. Just brainstorming here, you give people time to get back home.

“They got Saturday to get back home if they do travel. I just, I don’t know, I just feel like Sunday afternoon, I just don’t know that if you built a series from scratch right now, A, you would NOT be racing 38 weeks a year. We race entirely too much; it’s over-saturated by this time of the year. If other sports just cared about money, they’d play football for 38 weekends a year, but they don’t.”

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