NASCAR, Motorsport, USA Cup Practice and Qualifying Mar 4, 2023 Las Vegas, Nevada, USA NASCAR Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin 11 during qualifying at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Las Vegas Las Vegas Motor Speedway Nevada USA, EDITORIAL USE ONLY PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xGaryxA.xVasquezx 20230304_gav_sv5_033
Earlier this month, there was a bit of a dispute between NASCAR and the team owners. The two parties were discussing the revenue distribution, and it appeared that there was no headway.
Things soon came to a halt and the team owners boycotted a meeting with the officials.
In light of all this, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver and 23XI Racing c0-owner, Denny Hamlin gave his take on the whole situation.
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As a team owner Denny Hamlin gives his take on the whole kerfuffle
According to him, the sponsorship game has changed a lot from decades ago. In the latest episode of his ‘Actions Detrimental’ podcast, Hamlin said, “The difference is, sponsorship is a lot different that it used to be.”
“We talked about it in previous episodes, but there is a lot more opportunities for people to spend money in sports than there ever has been. There’s like 3500 options in how you can spend your marketing dollars in sports.”
“It used to be that there weren’t jersey patches on NBA teams. They used to not name every arena. There’s just a lot of different ways so we’re fighting with other leagues to get the sponsorship.”
Hamlin tells how NASCAR sponsorship was in the past
The co-owner with Michael Jordan admitted that in his early days, there used to be several top companies who were interested in NASCAR. Unfortunately, that does not seem to be the case anymore, as the number dwindled.
To make matters worse, the sport also had to contend with the departure of some classic teams. This was largely due to the lack of funds needed to run the teams.
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via Imago NASCAR, Motorsport, USA Cup Qualifying Mar 11, 2023 Avondale, Arizona, USA NASCAR Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin 11 during qualifying for the United Rentals Work United 500 at Phoenix Raceway. Avondale Phoenix Raceway Arizona USA, EDITORIAL USE ONLY PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xGaryxA.xVasquezx 20230311_gav_sv5_002
Hamlin continued, “At one point of time, there used to be a lot of Fortune 500 companies. That’s kind of what we boasted, 100s and 100s of Fortune 500 companies, and that number has gone down. Or the level of participation in which they have in our sport is down. Who does that directly hurt? It hurts us, the race teams who depend on it.”
“We’re now at a point where what we bring in in sponsorship doesn’t, and what we get from NASCAR, doesn’t cover our costs. Both of them combined, don’t cover our costs. So we have to get revenue or we go out of business.”
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For now, all that anyone can hope for is for NASCAR and the team owners to reach a middle ground. Clearly, NASCAR has a plan in mind, but it does not align with the team owners’ plans.