“That Makes Me Really Nervous” – Brett Griffin Points to Concerning Aspect of NASCAR’s $800 Million Deal

It was recently announced that NASCAR Xfinity Series will have a new home in terms of a broadcaster from 2025 onwards. The CW Network will broadcast all 33 races per season in the second tier of the sport from 2025 onwards until 2032. As per the Sports Business Journal, the deal is worth around $800 million or close to $115 million per year.

But while this deal makes sense on paper considering the obvious factors, spotter Brett Griffin expressed his concerns and fears about the CW Network getting all the races, which will be a departure from the current FOX/NBC model. Moreover, the spotter also wondered about the personalities who will be coming along with the broadcasting when the shift finally kicks into gear two years later.

Brett Griffin shares his concern about NASCAR’s CW deal

Speaking in a recent episode of the Door Bumper Clear podcast, Griffin opened up on his only “real straight-up concern.” He said, “If those people are on NASCAR payroll, that makes me really nervous from a broadcasting side because we know that MRN, Dave Moody, all those guys, they’re all on NASCAR payroll, they all work for NASCAR. There’s no way around it.”

“The last thing I’m going to do is come on here and motherf**k Dale Jr. on this show because he’s my boss for Dirty Mo Media. So I want to know as a sports fan when I’m watching a broadcast, I want to know what you really think. So I just hope we understand.”

Griffin further described, “It’s two years out. I hope we understand who those people are, who they’re paid by because I don’t want to be sold any more than I’m already sold now.”

The guest on the show, Truck Series driver, Carson Hocevar also shared his take on the subject as he said, “I think my favorite part of it honestly though is that it’s all 33 races. It’s not different. It’s not this new … where you can go and find that channel, it’s not this new broadcast for just 23 weeks or 20 weeks, like you’re going to get used to it really quickly, that’s all 33 for however many years.”

 

NASCAR is thrilled with CW’s entry

While Griffin’s concerns are valid and justified in their own place, when it comes to NASCAR, the spirits are as high as they can be about this new deal. Brian Herbst, senior vice president of NASCAR, empathically described why teaming up with the CW made complete sense for them.

“CW’s leadership shared a compelling vision for cultivating the next generation of NASCAR talent by bringing the NASCAR Xfinity Series exclusively to broadcast television and we are thrilled for the opportunity to partner with them,” he said as per RACER. “With more than 1 million viewers tuning in each week to see NASCAR’s future stars battle some of its biggest names at our most legendary tracks, NASCAR Xfinity Series consistently delivers the moments that excite current fans and create new fans of our great sport.”

This enthusiasm was present on the other side as well as Andy Alford, president of Nexstar’s broadcasting division, claimed they’re “uniquely suited” to drive attendance, viewership, and revenue through several measures such as local coverage, fan engagement, promotion, as well as value-add marketing.

All of this should ideally make the CW Network’s entry into NASCAR in the form of the Xfinity Series broadcaster, a sensible and successful one, and all concerns, one would hope, would get tranquilized.