Federal Antitrust Trial Against NASCAR

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The landmark federal antitrust trial against NASCAR opened Monday with three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin breaking down in tears minutes into his testimony as the first witness in a case that could upend the venerable stock car series.

https://apnews.com/article/nacar-lawsuit-michael-jordan-be9ff391ece0891c69255af35c9d2b79?

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NASCAR settles federal antitrust case, gives all teams the permanent charters they wanted

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Michael Jordan and NASCAR chairman Jim France stood side-by-side on the steps of a federal courthouse as if they were old friends following a stunning settlement Thursday of a bruising antitrust case in which the Basketball Hall of Famer was the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit accusing the top racing series in the United States of being a monopolistic bully.

https://apnews.com/article/nascar-lawsuit-antitrust-michael-jordan-france-37e0fba49daba62b729974b0025309a1?

NASCAR’s Power Reckoning

NASCAR yesterday settled with Front Row Motorsports and Michael Jordan-owned 23XI Racing, ending an antitrust lawsuit challenging the power the motorsports organization wields over independently owned racing teams.  Under the deal, NASCAR will offer teams permanent charters that guarantee them spots in races and ensure revenue stability. This marks a departure from the expiring charters teams have operated under since 2016, which Jordan testified teams are pressured into signing and are economically unviable. 23XI, which Jordan co-owns with three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin, and Front Row filed the antitrust suit after NASCAR gave teams six hours last year to sign a contract extension.  Both teams raced most of last season without charters and said losing the lawsuit would have put them out of business. The financial terms of the settlement were not disclosed, but an economist testified that 23XI and Front Row were owed roughly $364.7M in damages.