Jordan’s 23XI Lawsuit Against NASCAR: Monopoly Finding and Settlement

The Jordan 23XI lawsuit against NASCAR was a federal antitrust case filed in October 2024 by Michael Jordan’s 23XI Racing and Bob Jenkins’s Front Row Motorsports, accusing NASCAR of using its monopoly over premier stock car racing to force teams into unfair charter terms. It settled on December 11, 2025, after eight days of trial, and produced the biggest structural change to NASCAR team ownership since charters were introduced: permanent “evergreen” charters, expanded revenue sharing, a formal team role in governance, restored charters for both plaintiffs, and undisclosed monetary damages.¹

What the Teams Alleged

The complaint, filed October 2, 2024, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, accused NASCAR of violating Section 2 of the Sherman Antitrust Act.² Three lines of conduct sat at the center of the case.

The first was revenue suppression. Teams received roughly 25% of television revenue, tracks 65%, and NASCAR 10%. Curtis Polk, 23XI’s co-owner, testified that teams shared about 13% of the sport’s overall revenue.³

The second was the design of the charters themselves. Charters were not permanent; they expired at the end of each agreement period, and the 2025 agreement included a release provision requiring teams to waive any antitrust claims against NASCAR as a condition of keeping their charters.⁴

The third was control over the wider racing ecosystem. NASCAR owned 17 racetracks, including 11 on the 2025 Cup calendar, and required tracks to seek approval before hosting other motorsport series. Its “Next Gen” car program, introduced in 2022, required teams to buy standardized parts from single-source suppliers, with NASCAR retaining the intellectual property, so a Cup car could not be used in any competing series.⁵⁶

The September 2024 Ultimatum

The dispute broke into the open on September 6, 2024, when NASCAR presented its 15 charter-holding teams with what both sides later described as a “take-it-or-leave-it” offer for a new charter agreement covering 2025 through 2031. Teams were initially given about an hour to sign. The deadline was later extended to midnight, with a warning that if a “substantial number of teams” did not agree, NASCAR would scrap the charter system entirely.⁴

Thirteen teams signed. 23XI Racing, co-owned by Michael Jordan, Denny Hamlin, and Curtis Polk, and Front Row Motorsports, owned by Bob Jenkins, refused and sued four weeks later.⁵

Pretrial: A Reversal, Then a Monopoly Finding

On December 18, 2024, U.S. District Judge Kenneth D. Bell granted the teams a preliminary injunction, ordering NASCAR to let them race in 2025 as chartered teams without signing the release clause. On June 5, 2025, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated that injunction, holding that a release of antitrust claims does not by itself constitute anticompetitive conduct and that the teams had not met the “indisputably clear” standard required for such relief.⁷

The plaintiffs’ position strengthened dramatically in November 2025. Judge Bell denied NASCAR’s motion for summary judgment and granted the teams partial summary judgment, finding as a matter of law that NASCAR possessed monopoly power in the market for “premier stock-car racing.” He noted that NASCAR’s own counterclaim had effectively defined that market and said NASCAR had made a “strategic decision” in its pleadings and “must now live with the consequences.” He also dismissed NASCAR’s countersuit against Curtis Polk.⁸ With monopoly power established, the trial question narrowed to whether NASCAR had used that power to impose below-market terms.⁹

The Cost of Racing Without a Charter

After the Fourth Circuit vacated the injunction, 23XI and Front Row competed as “open” teams from roughly mid-July 2025 through the end of the season. Open teams are not guaranteed race entry and receive a smaller share of purse money.¹⁰ NASCAR had initially paid the two teams $25.1 million in charter-level payments over the first 20 races, and Commissioner Steve Phelps indicated those funds would be redistributed to the 30 other chartered cars, worth roughly $1.5 million per charter.¹¹

On the track, the season went well anyway. Tyler Reddick won the regular-season points title and reached the championship final, and Bubba Wallace won the Brickyard 400.¹²

Inside the Trial

The jury trial opened December 1, 2025, in Charlotte before Judge Bell. Michael Jordan testified for about an hour on December 5. He told the jury he had personally put $40 million into 23XI Racing and paid $28 million for a third charter in late 2024, and he described NASCAR’s revenue split as “far less than any business I’ve ever been a part of.” He gave three reasons for refusing to sign the 2025 charter: he did not believe it was economically viable, the release provision struck him as an antitrust violation, and the midnight ultimatum felt unfair.¹³¹⁴

Bob Jenkins told the court Front Row Motorsports had never turned an operational profit and had averaged losses of $6.8 million a year, and said he stayed in the sport “based on the belief someday they will be fair.”¹⁵ Richard Childress, who had signed the 2025 agreement, testified he did so only because he “financially couldn’t lose my Charter,” and the plaintiffs introduced letters from Rick Hendrick, Roger Penske, Jack Roush, and Joe Gibbs that had asked NASCAR for evergreen charters.¹⁶

The teams’ damages expert, Yale economist Edward A. Snyder, put NASCAR’s exposure at $364.7 million combined. Because there was no pre-charter “before” period to measure against, Snyder used Formula One as a benchmark, noting that F1 distributes about 45% of league revenue to teams. NASCAR did not present an alternative damages figure.¹⁷

The Settlement

On December 11, 2025, after the plaintiffs had finished their case-in-chief, the parties announced a settlement reached with the help of mediator Jeffrey Mishkin, a former NBA executive. The jury was dismissed and all claims and counterclaims were resolved.¹⁸

The structural terms:

All 15 charter-holding teams received permanent “evergreen” charters that NASCAR can no longer unilaterally revoke at the end of an agreement period.
Teams secured a share of NASCAR’s international media rights revenue, which had previously gone entirely to NASCAR, and one-third of new business deals involving the teams’ intellectual property.
Teams were granted a formal role in NASCAR governance decisions.
The prior “three-strike rule,” which had allowed teams to compete in a rival series after a set number of rules-change protests, was reinstated and expanded to five strikes.
23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports had their six combined charters returned for the 2026 season, and NASCAR agreed to pay an undisclosed sum to compensate for the revenue lost while the teams raced open.¹

In January 2026, NASCAR issued updated charter agreements to all 15 teams reflecting the settlement. Teams had 14 days to sign or keep the agreement they had signed in August 2024, with no risk to their charters either way.¹⁹ In February 2026, the parties filed a joint stipulation dismissing the case with prejudice, meaning it cannot be refiled.²⁰

What It Changed for Team Economics

Charter values climbed from roughly $6 million in 2018 to $40–$45 million by 2023, with the market benchmark before the lawsuit set by Legacy Motor Club’s $45 million purchase of a single charter from Rick Ware Racing.⁶ After the settlement made charters permanent, industry executives and investors estimated values had roughly doubled, with conservative projections above $50 million and more optimistic estimates ranging from $90 million to $100 million. Internal NASCAR documents produced in discovery showed chief strategy officer Scott Prime had predicted charters would reach about $100 million if made permanent.²¹

Dale Earnhardt Jr. said that if charters function as true permanent franchises, their values could eventually reach “well north of $150 million,” while also creating a “gigantic barrier of entry” for anyone hoping to build a new Cup team from scratch.²²

As of April 2026, 23XI Racing is running a fully chartered three-car Toyota operation with the No. 23, No. 35, and No. 45. Tyler Reddick has won four of the season’s first six races, including the Daytona 500, and Michael Jordan sits atop the Cup Series owner standings.¹²

1
The Athletic. NASCAR Settlement: 23XI, Front Row Details
2
CourtListener. 2311 Racing LLC v. National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing LLC
3
Autoweek. Antitrust Lawsuit Against NASCAR TV Revenue Sharing
4
Courthouse News. 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports Antitrust Complaint
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Duane Morris. NASCAR Settles Antitrust Lawsuit With Racing Teams
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ESPN. 23XI, Front Row vs. NASCAR Trial: Why Michael Jordan, Denny Hamlin Want to Tear Up Stock Car Racing
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Justia. 2311 Racing LLC v. National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, No. 24-2245
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ESPN. 23XI Racing, Front Row Motorsports Score Legal Wins in Antitrust Case vs. NASCAR
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Sports Business Journal. 23XI, FRM Earn Key Victory in NASCAR Lawsuit as Trial Draws Nearer
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NBC Sports. 23XI Racing, Front Row to Run as Open Teams at Dover After Court Decision
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Jayski. Chartered Teams Will Get More Money if Front Row, 23XI Racing Remain Open Teams
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The Guardian. Michael Jordan NASCAR 23XI Racing Success
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CNN. Michael Jordan Testifies in NASCAR Antitrust Trial
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The Athletic. NASCAR Michael Jordan Trial Lawsuit: Scott Prime, Bob Jenkins
16
Yahoo Sports. Childress Says He Signed NASCAR Charter Under Financial Pressure
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Yale School of Management. How an Antitrust Lawsuit From Michael Jordan Reshaped NASCAR
18
NASCAR. NASCAR Lawsuit Settlement: 23XI, Front Row
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Daily Downforce. NASCAR Settlement Update: Teams Issued New Charter Agreements
20
Jayski. NASCAR Antitrust Lawsuit Dismissed After Agreement Finalized
21
Sports Business Journal. NASCAR Investors Say Charter Values Have Already Increased With New Evergreen Provisions
22
On3. NASCAR Team Investors Claim Charter Values Have Doubled Since Lawsuit Settlement