Michael Jordan’s car racing team has filed a lawsuit against NASCAR this week, alleging that a new system creates unfair competition.
On Wednesday, two NASCAR teams, including one owned by Jordan, filed an antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR and its chairman Jim France. The lawsuit challenges NASCAR’s new charter system, claiming it restricts competition by unfairly tying teams to the series, its tracks and specific suppliers.
The lawsuit was filed by 23XI Racing—co-owned by Jordan and veteran driver Denny Hamlin—and Front Row Motorsports in the Western District of North Carolina in Charlotte. The lawsuit follows two years of tense negotiations between NASCAR and the 15 organizations that hold charters in the sport’s premier Cup Series. The legal dispute highlights growing friction between the privately owned stock car association and its top teams.
“The France family and NASCAR are monopolistic bullies,” the teams said in the lawsuit, which was obtained by The Associated Press (AP). “And bullies will continue to impose their will to hurt others until their targets stand up and refuse to be victims. That moment has now arrived.”
Michael Jordan, co-owner of 23XI Racing, looks on during the NASCAR Cup Series FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway on August 18, 2024 in Brooklyn, Michigan. Jordan’s 23XI and another racing team filed a federal antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR and its chairman on Wednesday.
Photo by Logan Riely/Getty Images
In early September, NASCAR introduced its final proposal for what amounts to a revenue-sharing model. While 13 organizations agreed to the deal, many claimed they signed under pressure, with some teams stating they felt coerced into accepting the terms.
However, 23XI Racing and the smaller Front Row Motorsports team declined to sign the deal. Instead, they enlisted Jeffrey Kessler, a prominent antitrust lawyer known for representing athletes in North America’s four major sports leagues, advancing the NCAA toward paid college athletes and securing a landmark equal pay victory for the U.S. women’s national soccer team.
The lawsuit demands information from NASCAR and chairman France regarding their “exclusionary practices” and efforts to shield themselves from competition. Kessler indicated he would request a preliminary injunction, allowing the two teams to compete in 2025 under the new charter system as the legal battle continues. The teams are pursuing treble damages, arguing that NASCAR’s anti-competitive terms have dominated the sport since the introduction of the initial charter agreement in 2016.
Everyone knows that I have always been a fierce competitor, and that will to win is what drives me and the entire 23XI team each and every week out on the track,” Jordan, the retired NBA superstar, said in a statement to the AP. “I love the sport of racing and the passion of our fans, but the way NASCAR is run today is unfair to teams, drivers, sponsors and fans. Today’s action shows I’m willing to fight for a competitive market where everyone wins.”
NASCAR’s charter system, implemented in 2016, introduced revenue sharing and other business elements for the country’s premier motorsports series, while guaranteeing 36 spots in every high-profile Cup Series race. According to the lawsuit, only eight of the original 19 team owners who were granted charters at the system’s inception remain in the sport today.
This article includes reporting from The Associated Press.
