The excitement is at an all-time high. Why would it not be? The championship race is on the horizon and four drivers will battle it out for the Bill France Cup at Phoenix Raceway. Traditionally, the news in the NASCAR circles would revolve around speculation about the race, betting odds, and strategy at the 1-mile track. This time around, things seem to be very different. A court hearing involving Michael Jordan has been dominating the headlines, which could potentially alter the sports landscape forever.

While a lot has been said about NASCAR’s charter proposal, little has been revealed about the financial terms being offered to the 13 teams that have put pen to paper. That was until now. The sanctioning body’s attorney, Christopher Yates, has disclosed new details about the agreement, flipping the narrative surrounding the ‘coercion’ accusations.

Yates reveals terms rejected by Michael Jordan and FRM

After years of intense negotiations, NASCAR finally ran out of patience and issued an ultimatum. Just 48 hours before the opening playoff race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the sport’s hierarchy offered a final proposal to its teams, giving them time until midnight to make a decision. The take-it-or-leave-it offer put owners in a spot, not only because there was no room for negotiations but it also came with conditions that meant the organization could not be held accountable in the court.

With the threat of losing their charters looming large, the majority of team owners gave in to NASCAR’s terms, except for Michael Jordan’s co-owned 23XI Racing and Bob Jenkins’ Front Row Motorsports. However, as per NASCAR’s attorney Christopher Yates, teams had an additional source of motivation that prompted them to sign the agreement. The Latham & Watkins LLP representative said that under the new terms, teams would receive “nearly half of the TV revenue — that is not a small amount by any metric.”

With NASCAR signing a multi-billion dollar media rights deal worth an estimated $7.7 billion with NBC, Fox, Amazon, and Warner Bros Discovery from 2025 to 2031, it was only natural that teams would want a significant slice of the pie to make the sport more sustainable. While not every stakeholder was happy with all the terms presented in the charter proposal, one team owner, who wished to remain anonymous said, “Even though it wasn’t a great deal, we took the deal because it is getting us more revenue.”

Echoing a similar sentiment, Rick Hendrick, owner of the sport’s most successful team, went on to say, “I felt it was a fair deal, and we protected the charters, which was number one, we got the (revenue) increase.” In many ways, revealing the financial terms being offered to the 13 NASCAR teams was a smart move by attorney Christopher Yates, as it not only flipped the narrative surrounding stakeholders being coerced but also highlighted the equitable terms being offered in return. Could this prove to be a blow to Michael Jordan’s anti-trust lawsuit? Time will tell.

Christopher Yates dismisses the need for preliminary injunction

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While Michael Jordan’s co-owned 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports would prefer keeping their charters, anti-trust attorney Jim Kessler has revealed that the teams could be willing to compete in the ‘open’ category if their preliminary injunction is denied. However, they would still want the clause where NASCAR cannot be sued on monopolistic grounds to be waived away, in order to compete in the Cup Series during the 2025 season while pursuing legal action.

However, NASCAR’s attorney, Christopher Yates, believes that the injunction request is too broad and the teams should compete in the open category, as they have done so with one-off cars in the past. Should the Michael Jordan-led lawsuit win the judgment, they could seek financial compensation from the sport’s hierarchy for the damages incurred during the 2025 season. However, Yates has made it clear that the sanctioning body no longer wants to sign a charter agreement with the two teams after they disparaged NASCAR publicly.

Having accused Michael Jordan, Denny Hamlin, and Bob Jenkins of making a “frontal assault to the charter system”, the attorney went on to say, “They have been calling NASCAR a series of names that undermine NASCAR’s brand and goodwill. NASCAR only wants to enter into charter agreements with teams who want to work collectively to grow the sport.” With just a few more days to go until the court reaches a verdict, both parties will be optimistic about their chances, believing that they have made a compelling case in front of Judge Frank Whitney.