NASCAR Insider Confident Charter Negotiations Will Likely Be Pushed Beyond Daytona

NASCAR’s 2023 season gave fans some brilliant racing, with Ryan Blaney taking the honors. Now that the track action is done and dusted, the sport has shifted its focus to the most crucial aspect of its business functioning. After the previous media rights deal expired this year, NASCAR scored big after securing a $7.7 Billion deal with the likes of Amazon Prime and Disney. Whilst the new deal on the table is a big win for the organization, the teams are far from satisfied with their cut.

As we head into an era of streaming after broadcast served the sport so well, team bosses are expecting a bigger piece of the pie. With both sides locked in negotiations, there seems to be no end in sight for the charter negotiations. But for how long could this last?

No end in sight for NASCAR’s charter negotiations until Daytona

The biggest win coming from the rights negotiations is the fact that NASCAR’s average annual value will witness a rise to approximately a billion dollars per year! But with how NASCAR has allotted the treasure chest in previous charter deals, the teams will receive only 25% of the total revenue. However, this figure isn’t going to sit well with the teams once we include the additional hundreds of millions that have been added to the pot.

Earlier this week, Steve Phelps revealed the distribution talks were still hanging in the balance, with the organization hopeful they can conduct successful charter extensions in the coming months. But how many months will the back-and-forth stretch to?

Speaking on the Dirty Mo podcast’s live edition, journalist Adam Stern joined the hosts to discuss the salient features of the new deal and answered the question on everyone’s mind regarding the charter negotiations. He reflected on the fact that NASCAR had managed to bag such a massive deal irrespective of the 50% fall off in viewership ratings the sport has witnessed since the previous deal. Stern believes the teams are itching to get what they deserve, even if the organization doesn’t believe so.

He shared, “They [NASCAR] have acknowledged of course publicly even just recently as this week as Steve Phelps, the president, that teams are not profitable by much. So I definitely think this sets them up for better. In terms of teams are actually well suited to say, ‘We deserve the extra money and we need that passed onto us’. But at the same time, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to be a smooth road in these negotiations.”

Stern further revealed that he got insider information from a person familiar with the teams’ mindset regarding their position on the matter. When he inquired whether the charter negotiations would be done by the time the Daytona 500 came around, the answer he got?

“Their answer was ‘no, not necessarily’. So I think there are some teams already in NASCAR who feel like what they are getting offered, at least the outlines they’ve seen from NASCAR, they’re pretty good, but there’s going to be a couple of holdouts.”

READ MORE: Teams Not “Head Over Heels” With NASCAR’s Latest Deal as Charter Negotiations Still at a Halt

Whilst the new deal would sit well with most teams, Stern believes there could be a few that stick it out to make NASCAR raise their cuts. And if not, we may as well have to wait until the Daytona 500 to find out!

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Could team strong-arm Steve Phelps for a bigger piece of the pie?

Now that NASCAR has done its part in securing the future of the sport, the pressure from teams who want a piece of the pie is increasing by the second. Stern figures the teams and the organization could meet halfway and set up an auto-renewal system for charters. This means there would be certain criteria and goals that teams would need to fulfill to ensure a charter extension.

Stern believes the situation in front of us is one to keep an eye on, especially as the teams gear up to play their hand in the negotiation game. However, could the situation of fortune turn south just as fast? Stern shared, “Do I expect you know, a live golf situation where there’s going to be a rival league started up? Like I’m not expecting that, ultimately we’re likely to see the sides come together and find a deal, but it’s not necessarily going to be smooth and we could even see teams pull some stunts in the meantime.”

The entire situation could end up playing into the teams’ hands, putting Steve Phelps on the spot. According to Stern, the team’s tactics from here on out could very well be devious. He concluded, “Some stuff to make NASCAR feel uncomfortable because they don’t feeling they’re getting exactly what they deserve. I do think that ultimately this helps set up a new Charter agreement, but there’s going to be a lot of negotiations in the meantime and it might not be entirely smooth.”

WATCH THIS STORY: NASCAR’s Charter Conundrum: A Twist in the Tale?

It’s safe to say that the holiday break is not going to be a relaxing affair. Will the teams agree to the existing cut? Or is time for NASCAR to open the floodgates to their new treasure?