Amid NASCAR Disputes with Michael Jordan’s Agent and Jeff Gordon, Rumors Emerge of a Breakaway Series

Fairly recently, the Race Team Alliance strengthened its relationship with sports marketing agency Wasserman. The idea was to explore the feasibility of hosting exhibition races. This was definitely a major declaration of NASCAR’s biggest teams organizing their own events in the offseason. This comes on the back of some disputes with Michael Jordan’s agent, and even Hendrick Motorsports legend Jeff Gordon.

All the way back in 2014, several top NASCAR Cup teams established the Race Team Alliance. Essentially, this organization was similar to the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA). Basically, the organization’s purpose is to have a better say in the sport and ensure that they have a voice. Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, Stewart-Haas Racing, Team Penske, Richard Childress Racing, and RFK Racing, were founding members.

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What did Jordan’s agent and Jeff Gordon say?

As per the agent of the 23XI co-owner, “There’s a total misalignment of interests. As a result, the economic model is broken for the teams… The sustainability of the teams in this sport is not very long-term unless we have a fundamental change in the model. It’s a wonderful sport. People are in love with it and it produces a lot of money. Let’s just be fair about it. Let’s be fair and equitable. That’s all we’re asking for.”

Meanwhile, Gordon admitted, “We finally did get a response from them — and we’re very far apart”. Speaking of the RTA, every team in the sport is an official RTA member. They have floated the idea of exhibition races because teams are struggling to turn a profit. So it was only natural that they hunt for additional revenue streams, and since the events would kick off in the offseason, it is out of NASCAR jurisdiction.

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The primary dispute between NASCAR and its teams is down to the proposed share of revenue allotted to teams. They will earn this share of revenue through the new media rights deal, starting in 2025.