Various reports claim that 23XI Race, the NASCAR group that Michael Jordan co-owned, was one of the two Cup Series group owners who did not agree to extend the terms of their charter agreement by a Friday night deadline.
The current charter deals —similar to franchise ownership in other sports —are set to expire at the end of the season. Thirteen groups officially signed new, protracted contracts, leaving 23XI and Top Row Motorsports as the holdouts.
Laws were introduced beginning with the 2016 season, apparently granting teams that had often competed on the loop about 25 % of potential media income, among other requirements. Groups also compete for money in the culture bag. Unlike most big U. S. sporting teams, NASCAR is privately owned, controlled by the France and Kennedy people. The main organization also owns some racetracks.

In 2020, Jordan and present driver Denny Hamlin collaborated with sports ace Curtis Polk. The latest offer has been subjected to harsh criticism by Hamlin.
” There’s definitely a handful of groups that are just happy to take any offer that they can find, and there’s some with some business perception that says this is unreasonable”, Hamlin said lately.
Jordan has even shared his anger. ” If our rights in NASCAR is losing money and NASCAR’s the only one making wealth, that’s not a good relationship”, he told The New York Times in May. If the economy were n’t made more appealing to potential buyers, Jordan added that the game was in danger of disbanding altogether.
Owners have reportedly pushed for a larger proportion of Racing revenue, including more media dollars and a slice of betting-related income, as well as more conventional power in the business and—perhaps most significantly—permanent charter status.
” 23X I decided to never meet a NASCAR-imposed date next day to signal Charter contracts for its two vehicles for 2025-2031″, the group said in a public speech. ” 23XI’s place, as stated in a text to NASCAR, is that we did not have an opportunity to quite contract for a new Charter deal. We are interested in having fruitful conversations with NASCAR to address these issues and move things forward in a way that leads to a just solution.
NASCAR recently agreed to$ 7.7 billion in media distribution deals with Fox, NBC, Warner Bros. Discovery and Amazon for the 2025-2031 conditions. In line with those times, the NASCAR contract proposal apparently features a seven-year contract with an extra seven-year option.
Steve Phelps, the president of NASCAR, has previously expressed concern that supplemental group earnings would be spent more swiftly on results-oriented efforts rather than business development. He’s even said,” we need to make sure our culture groups are successful”. Under the present system, team owners claim to be losing money. Earlier in discussions, the team hired leading antitrust attorney Jeffrey Kessler.

” I think there’s things naturally we would like to have much, but I think to some degree, there’s items that we really like, and there’s parts never so much”, current vehicle and RFK Racing co-owner Brad Keselowski said of the contract Saturday. We believed it was appropriate to reach a deal and proceed.
Keselowski added that tensions over NASCAR’s structure may be being exacerbated by the exploding franchise values in other leagues, including the NFL and NBA.
Bubba Wallace, a 23XI driver, has stated that he is unsure of his team’s future until the charter dispute is resolved.
Jordan is no stranger to disputes between league owners and rivals. Over the course of a six-month lockout in 1998-1999, he assisted NBA players in negotiating for a new collective bargaining agreement.
He then sat as the owner of Charlotte Hornets, sat on the other side of the table. ” I think having Michael Jordan as a member of our negotiating committee, and the unique perspective he brings to the table, has really given this league a special element,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in 2016.
Front Row Motorsports, which has declined to comment on negotiations, is reported to have picked up a third team charter for the 2025 season. Recent slots have sold for$ 20 million to$ 40 million.
A request for comment was not immediately addressed by a NASCAR spokesperson.
At Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday, the NASCAR playoffs will begin. Tyler Reddick of 23XI won the regular season championship last Sunday at Darlington Raceway. Wallace only a fraction of the 16-driver playoff field.
” All we do is compete against one another rather than uniting our efforts to advance the sport together,” Hamlin said this week. ” In my opinion, until we do that, we are just going to continue spinning our tires”.