NBA Hall of Famer Michael Jordan has made strides since joining NASCAR and, after filing a lawsuit against the racing giant, emerged victorious, along with another team, to gain permanent charters for all teams involved in the league.
According to The Associated Press, after Jordan and Denny Hamlin, co-owners of 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports (FRM), owned by Bob Jenkins, filed an antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR, stating that the league used anticompetitive practices to prevent fair competition in the sport, the sides agreed to a settlement to end the legal fight.
“Like two competitors, obviously we tried to get as much done in each other’s favor,” Jordan said after the trial, while standing with his former nemesis, NASCAR chairman Jim France.
“I’ve said this from Day 1: The only way this sport is going to grow is we have to find some synergy between the two entities. I think we’ve gotten to that point, unfortunately it took 16 months to get here, but I think level heads have gotten us to this point where we can actually work together and grow this sport. I am very proud about that and I think Jim feels the same.”
Terms of the settlement were not released, but the two teams were seeking a large monetary sum from NASCAR to cover their legal fees, the financial losses they suffered this year from not being chartered, and to make the charters permanent.
France responded after the trial by agreeing with Jordan to get back on track.
“I do feel the same and we can get back to focusing on what we really love, and that’s racing, and we spent a lot of time not really focused on that so much as we needed to be,” France said. “I feel like we made a very good decision here together and we have a big opportunity to continue growing the sport.”
The case was about what the two teams viewed as a monopoly held by the race car organization. They opposed NASCAR controlling all aspects of the business, including buying the racetracks that host its races and allegedly requiring teams to purchase supplies from single-source suppliers selected by the league. Another point of contention is the prohibition on teams competing in other stock-car races.
The Associated Press reported that the charter system, which started in 2016, is the league’s version of the franchise model used by most professional sports leagues. The charter guarantees a team a place in the 40-car field for all 38 races and a defined share of the weekly purse.
NASCAR was scheduling a call with all teams to discuss the revenue-sharing model moving forward.
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