Law Michael Jordan set to testify in NASCAR antitrust trial, sources say - Jordan is scheduled to testify Friday, although court schedules can change.

Michael Jordan, a co-owner of 23XI Racing, leaves the Charles R. Jonas Federal Building in Charlotte, N.C., on Monday.
Grant Baldwin / Getty Images

Michael Jordan is scheduled to testify Friday in a federal antitrust trial against NASCAR, two people close to the NBA Hall of Famer told NBC News.

The suit, first filed in 2024, has played out in a Charlotte, North Carolina, courtroom since Monday as the Jordan-co-owned 23XI Racing team, along with Front Row Motorsports, seeks to prove its allegations that the stock car circuit is a monopoly that limits individual teams’ revenues and freedom — including requiring all teams to use the same model of car and parts from NASCAR-approved suppliers — by stifling competition.

NASCAR has repeatedly denied wrongdoing. In October, its commissioner said it was "trying our hardest" to settle the suit, whose discovery has exposed NASCAR's finances and internal communications. NASCAR was founded in 1948 by Bill France Sr., and the company’s ownership and top leadership remain in the family.

Though best-known for his basketball stardom and once owning the NBA's Charlotte Hornets, Jordan, 62, is also deeply involved in motorsports, and five years ago co-founded 23XI Racing along with a business partner, Curtis Polk, and longtime NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin.

Jordan is expected to testify Friday, although court schedules can change.

Since 2016, NASCAR has operated on a charter system that guarantees 36 teams entry into every race in its top series and shares of revenue. Teams have sought to make charters permanent and to increase the value that comes with owning them. In 2024, NASCAR offered charter-holding racing teams a model for sharing revenues, and while many teams signed the agreement, Jordan's team and Front Row Motorsports did not. They sued shortly thereafter.

"I didn’t sign because I knew this was my death certificate for the future,” Hamlin testified this week. "I have spent 20 years trying to make this sport grow as a driver and for the last five years as a team owner. 23XI is doing our part. You can’t have someone treat you this unfairly, and I knew it wasn’t right. They were wrong, and someone needed to be held accountable."

In its lawsuit, 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports called NASCAR "monopolistic bullies" and also took issue with NASCAR's ownership of the majority of the tracks used in the circuit, as well as the approvals non-NASCAR-owned tracks must earn to host its races.

Jordan has said he elected to take on NASCAR "for the smaller teams, as well; it's not just for me."

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[JohnnyG]

the stock car circuit is a monopoly that limits individual teams’ revenues and freedom — including requiring all teams to use the same model of car and parts from NASCAR-approved suppliers

It's right there in the name. There are race series that let teams innovate (cool for gearheads, but can let one team dominate like the Yankee$), and ones that lock down the spec to the point of sealed single-source engines.

The latter is less exciting if you want to see new tech make it into street cars, but it's hard to argue that making every race a nail-biting "driver's race" hasn't proven successful. Sounds like these guys want to be in the biggest, richest race series, but also ignore the rules that made it that way.

And of course it's a "monopoly", in the same way that Apple "monopolizes" iPhone sales. Plenty of other touring, formula, rally, dragster, and other race series that aren't brands owned by the French family.

 

[Daddy's Little Kitten]

Stop it, get some help.

 

[Battlefield2142EU]

Black people and NASCAR a weird mix.

 

[Rome's rightful successor]

Man this space jam sequel is wack yo.

 

[Großmann]

It's right there in the name. There are race series that let teams innovate (cool for gearheads, but can let one team dominate like the Yankee$), and ones that lock down the spec to the point of sealed single-source engines.

I don’t think this is the actual issue. It seems like the real issue is the financial side of how teams get a cut of the revenue.

Since 2016, NASCAR has operated on a charter system that guarantees 36 teams entry into every race in its top series and shares of revenue. Teams have sought to make charters permanent and to increase the value that comes with owning them. In 2024, NASCAR offered charter-holding racing teams a model for sharing revenues, and while many teams signed the agreement, Jordan's team and Front Row Motorsports did not. They sued shortly thereafter.

 

[Norms Abused Liver]

Jordan is an egotistical dickhead, so I hope he loses on that alone.

 

[Robbyretard]

Black people and NASCAR a weird mix.

It also goes back the beginning,

 

[Romulus augustulus]

every France family member that has run NASCAR since Bill Sr has been driving the cup series into the dirt.

 

[JohnnyG]

I don’t think this is the actual issue. It seems like the real issue is the financial side of how teams get a cut of the revenue.

They chose to highlight the car/race rules, probably because they think it'll sound more sympathetic, but I agree the broader claim/demand is that they should have a say in the private business that they don't own. And unless the French family gave them some kind of ownership share or voting rights, it seems like an open and shut case.

By their logic, you have a "monopoly" on your house, and you "stifle competition" by not letting the guys you pay to renovate it all use different brands of paint.

 

[Croaking Spider]

It also goes back the beginning, https://youtube.com/watch?v=19Xc-xbhu_c

I respect Wendell Scott more than I'll ever respect Bubba Wallace. Wendell actually got to experience that old-school racism without claiming a garage door pull was a noose. He wasn't a nepo hire like most of the drivers today. Motorsports now more than ever is a rich man's sport, especially if you want to make a profession out of it. The only enjoyment to be had is from watching the up-and-comers (NASCAR truck series, Moto3 instead of MotoGP, F3 instead of F1) who will go out and run like a bat out of hell trying to prove themselves instead of playing follow the leader in a line the whole race.

 

[Robbyretard]

I respect Wendell Scott more than I'll ever respect Bubba Wallace. Wendell actually got to experience that old-school racism without claiming a garage door pull was a noose. He wasn't a nepo hire like most of the drivers today. Motorsports now more than ever is a rich man's sport, especially if you want to make a profession out of it. The only enjoyment to be had is from watching the up-and-comers (NASCAR truck series, Moto3 instead of MotoGP, F3 instead of F1) who will go out and run like a bat out of hell trying to prove themselves instead of playing follow the leader in a line the whole race.

old school racers had to race!