Michael Jordan sues NASCAR: NBA icon takes stand against sport's administration
10/03/2024 10:12 PM
The famous Chicago Bulls basketballer – who now owns part of a racing team – is taking on NASCAR after filing an anti-trust lawsuit in US federal court.
Michael Jordan is suing NASCAR and its CEO Jim France for “anti-competitive and monopolistic control of the sport” after refusing to sign an “unfair” charter agreement between his team and the organisation.
“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,” Jordan said in a statement.
Jordan part-owns 23XI Racing (pronounced 'twenty-three-eleven') – named after the number 23 the former basketballer wore on his Chicago Bulls jersey during his legendary NBA career – along with three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin, who races as number 11.
The team, founded in 2020, fields two Toyota Camry race cars in the NASCAR Cup Series – the top-tier category – number 23 for Bubba Wallace, the other number 45 – after Jordan's baseball career number – driven by Tyler Reddick.
Jordan filed the 46-page anti-trust lawsuit against both the NASCAR organisation and its CEO Jim France in US Federal Court on 2 October 2024.
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It came after 23XI Racing and rival team Front Row Motorsports were the only two NASCAR teams – out of the 15 in total – not to sign NASCAR's proposed new charter agreement.
“NASCAR and the France family operate without transparency, have stifled competition, and control the sport of stock car racing in ways that unfairly benefit them at the expense of team owners, drivers, sponsors, partners, and fans, through the following anti-competitive practices,” said a joint statement from the two teams.
“No other major professional sport in North America is run by a single family that enriches themselves through these kinds of unchecked monopolistic practices.”
The proposed charter agreement is intended to come into effect in 2025 for seven years . It is effectively a license or permit for a team to compete in NASCAR and was first used in the category in 2016.
Australia's V8 Supercars run in a similar way, with a TRC (Teams Racing Charter) needed to compete.
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The number of TRCs is limited to maintain their value, and ownership brings benefits and protections – such as a share of the television deals and sponsorship payments given the financial investment in competing.
NASCAR originally implemented a charter agreement in 2016 with this latest deal supposed to last from 2025 through 2031 – yet the two outlier teams see the terms as “unfair”.
They also accuse NASCAR and the France family of carrying out anti-competitive practices including forcing teams to buy parts from a single-source supplier as dictated by NASCAR.
Further alleged anti-competitive behaviour included retaining ownership of parts and cars, prevents teams racing in other series and acquiring the Automobile Racing Club of America, NASCAR's main rival, to do so.
It also cited imposing exclusivity deals on NASCAR-sanctioned racetracks.
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It also says NASCAR's purchased “a majority of the premier racetracks that are exclusive to NASCAR” and imposes “exclusivity deals on NASCAR-sanctioned racetracks.”
“After more than two years of attempted negotiations over the 2025 agreements, during which NASCAR continually stonewalled and refused to engage constructively, we concluded that litigation was the only way to address the anti-competitive practices of NASCAR and the France family.
“In the coming days, we will file a preliminary injunction to enable our teams to race in the next calendar year under the 2025 charter agreement, while continuing to pursue our antitrust litigation.”
NASCAR – which has a history of winning legal battles – is yet to publicly respond.
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