Denny Hamlin Exposes the ‘Billon Dollars Investment’ NASCAR Needs to Thrive
Denny Hamlin reveals how NASCAR might have gone off the deep end and would need significant investments to start growing again.
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Denny Hamlin (via Imago)
NASCAR’s global viewership and popularity have grown at a steady rate for quite some time now. However, the sport isn’t able to pull record-breaking viewership like before and is failing against some of the rival motorsport categories, such as F1, IndyCar, etc. Now, Denny Hamlin opens up on how NASCAR needs much more than just fans to thrive in the modern era of racing.
The recent 23XI-FRM vs NASCAR lawsuit brought many shocking things to light. Many of the sport’s monopolistic ways were exposed, apart from their finances, which were being spent carelessly. The case ended with a settlement, but it was still a considerable victory for Denny Hamlin and Co.
Denny Hamlin believes that NASCAR would have to go out on a limb and spend lavishly on multiple aspects if it wanted to grow beyond its horizons. Hamlin reckoned that someone had to come in and invest billions of dollars into promotions and overall upgradation of the sport. Though the 45-year-old accepted that it could put the sport into an initial loss, it will have some notable long-term gains.
We need someone to come in and invest like billions into heavy promotion, heavy upgrades on everything, And while it might come to a short term loss, it will certainly have long-term gain.
Denny Hamlin said, as reported by motorsport.com.
Further, Denny Hamlin drew a Formula 1 example and how the sport took off following Liberty Media’s consistent, but costly, efforts to grow the sport. Liberty Media spent a lot of money, more so to host American races, and became an ultimate success in the United States. Hamlin declared that this was the modern way of expanding the sport, and NASCAR definitely needed to work on this aspect sooner or later.
We saw what happened with Liberty Media, what they did with Formula 1, and influxed a lot of money into the sport and it took off. That’s just the way in works nowadays. I think that’s the kind of thing you need.
Denny Hamlin added.
Denny Hamlin reveals the ‘lot of work required’ to dig out of the hole
Certainly, NASCAR’s drop in viewership and popularity did not come out of the blue. It was because of some controversial decisions taken by the leadership of the sport over a decade ago. As such, the sport did not suffer from the consequences overnight. Hence, they will not boost their numbers overnight as well, as Denny Hamlin suggests what to do from this point forward.
Denny Hamlin highlighted that collectively, it was going to take a lot of work to dig out of the hole that NASCAR dug for itself. Hamlin recalled that the drop did not come overnight, but because of decisions taken over 15 years ago. In hindsight, the sport certainly wouldn’t have made some decisions that they did, but the damage was now done and needed to be worked upon.
It’s going to take, collectively, a lot of work to kind of dig out of the hole, This didn’t just happen overnight. It’s been a slow grind over the past 10 years and some of it was due to decisions made 15 or 10 years ago. Turns out, some of those decisions were not the right way to go, and we’re starting to reverse some of those things. But damage has been done and we need to build this thing back up.
Denny Hamlin noted.
NASCAR’s biggest mistake could have been to introduce the charter system, as many people still remain sorry about it. Moreover, the New-gen cars and the winner-takes-it-all format were some of the other highly controversial decisions by the sport. However, now, the sport is seemingly ready to listen to the community and is making decisions in their favor.
Read More: “I Was Somewhat Envious!” Dale Earnhardt Jr. Exposes the Biggest Regret of His NASCAR Career
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