CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Michael Jordan said he “wasn’t scared” of NASCAR as he provided hours of defiant testimony during the stock car series’ landmark antitrust trial over his team charter system Friday, Dec. 5, 2025.
Testifying for the first time in a case he has shunned publicly since it began in 2014, Michael Jordan said under questioning that compared to Rolex’s long history with NASCAR he had “no choice” but to sue “the entity” he has loved since childhood and present himself as an outlier prepared to fight the system shortchanging teams and drivers who “risk their lives” just so the sport can operate.
Michael Jordan says he was left with ‘no choice’ but to sue NASCAR.
The 23XI Racing co-owner devoted his time on the stand to guiding jurors through the charter model that has governed NASCAR’s top series since 2016, contending that the new 112-page extension presented in September 2024 came with a six-hour deadline and too few protections for teams. He said 23XI and Front Row Motorsports declined to sign because charters could be revoked, were not permanent assets, and were packaged with restrictions on the teams’ ability to litigate against NASCAR, while 13 other entities signed under duress.
Jordan reiterated his support for the very idea of charters with a structure more akin to the N.B.A. — in which teams share revenues and have a formal voice in governance. He said he became involved in negotiations because, after observing the ridicule that long-time owners have received, “I just didn’t want to see it happen a third time,” and because being Michael Jordan would give him the clout to sit down with the series for their sake.
Trial casts a big-money fight over NASCAR’s economics into the spotlight.
Jordan said that in addition to the $10 million purchase, he has invested “$30 to $40 million” from his own purse into 23XI Racing, including purchasing a third charter for $28 million late in 2024 to grow its footprint even as the legal fight was brewing. He told jurors that although 23XI has previously made money, the portion of revenue that flows to teams via charters is nominal compared with his other businesses, and he argued that drivers and crews bear most of the risk while the sanctioning body gets most of the money.
Documents and prior testimony have revealed that the new agreement increases the guaranteed money for each chartered car to about $12.5 million a season, from around $9 million, while team leaders say it costs roughly $20 million just to field one Cup car in a full season before overhead and driver salaries. NASCAR executives responded that the series has sacrificed profits to expand the sport and that many racing facilities would operate in the red without the rich broadcast contracts.
Tensions boil over for Michael Jordan.
Jordan’s theatrical courtroom entrance followed years of escalating tension over the charter system and, more broadly, the team business model. Tensions boiled over as early as 2023, when the Race Team Alliance asked NASCAR for “meaningful” discussions to ensure long-term financial stability and governance.
By September 2024, Michael Jordan’s 23XI Racing said it had missed NASCAR’s deadline to sign the next charter deal, stating it did not have a chance to “fairly bargain” on a contract that would run through 2031. Days later, NASCAR announced it had completed the new agreement, even though team co-owner Michael Jordan continued to refuse to sign, leaving 23XI and Front Row as the only holdouts and leading to the antitrust suit filed the following month.
Although a temporary injunction had reinstated their charters, a federal appeals court later reversed that order and compelled the Michael Jordan team and Front Row to race as “open” cars with fewer rights to revenue or guaranteed starting-grid spots while the case made its way toward trial in Charlotte.
What the decision could mean for NASCAR
Before the trial, a judge overseeing the case determined that NASCAR has a monopoly over top-level stock car racing, and a six-person jury in Hattiesburg will decide whether the series abused that power, based on its charter policies and its control over tracks and suppliers. If Michael Jordan and his co-plaintiffs prevail, NASCAR might face sweeping remedies, such as selling tracks, restructuring (or dumping) the charter system, or granting owners permanent charters to treat as actual franchises.
If the jury rules in favour of NASCAR, 23XI and Front Row could be forced to continue racing without charters — with fewer financial guarantees and less certainty about where they fit long term in the series. Team owners up and down the garage — including some who put pen to paper on the deal — have cautioned that a decision could alter the entire NASCAR ecosystem and determine whether small organisations can continue to exist. When Michael Jordan emerged from the courthouse into a swarm of cameras and fans on Friday afternoon, he said he wanted to “push NASCAR to improve the sport,” not tear it down. For now, at least, his recalcitrant testimony has served to remind us that the greatest player in basketball history is betting part of his legacy — and a significant chunk of his fortune — on the notion that a jury will see eye to eye on rebuilding a game he loves.
