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NASCAR is about to get a $7.7 billion cash injection from its new media-rights deals, and Michael Jordan wants a piece of the pie—or at least a bigger one.
The NBA legend’s 23XI Racing is part of an antitrust lawsuit that was filed against NASCAR on Wednesday, centered on how the sport’s revenue is distributed.
Last month, Jordan’s team and Front Row Motorsports (the other party of the lawsuit) were the only two to not sign NASCAR’s charter agreement—the sport’s version of franchises—for 2025 to 2031, which is also the time frame of $1.1 billion annual TV contracts with Amazon, Fox Sports, NBC Sports, and Warner Bros. Discovery. “We did not have an opportunity to fairly bargain,” a 23XI statement said at the time.
The current split for the sport’s media-rights revenue is roughly:
- Tracks: 65%
- Teams: 25%
- NASCAR: 10%
The catch is that 18 of the 36 Cup Series races on the 2025 schedule will be held at NASCAR-owned tracks. That means NASCAR would effectively take in 42.5% of TV money, or an average of $467 million each year, while the teams (there are 17 full-time squads with between one and four cars) would split $275 million.
Denny Hamlin, a co-owner of 23XI Racing who still drives for Joe Gibbs Racing, has previously said teams asked for closer to 50% of that media-rights money. Tuesday’s lawsuit labeled the France family, which owns NASCAR, “monopolistic bullies.”
23XI driver Tyler Reddick won the Cup Series regular-season points championship, culminating Jordan’s most successful NASCAR season yet, after already helping bring an added spotlight to the sport. Reddick now sits ninth out of 12 in the ongoing playoffs.
Front Row and 23XI plan to ask for a preliminary injunction that would allow them to compete in 2025 without charter agreements.
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