NASCAR’s young 23XI team continues to lead the charge in the Charter debate. The team is co-owned by basketball legend Michael Jordan and NASCAR veteran Denny Hamlin. The faction recently revealed that NASCAR had set a tight deadline for teams to sign the new charter agreements for 2025 to 2031. If the teams didn’t sign, they could risk losing their charters. However, the 23XI Racing team refused to give in.

They sent a letter to NASCAR saying that their Toyota team wouldn’t sign the extension. This news came right before the NASCAR playoffs kicked off, and there’s been chatter in the garage that only two Cup Series teams haven’t signed on yet. Joining the 23XI is Bob Jenkins, owner of Front Row Motorsports.

Did 23XI just accuse NASCAR of the predatory practices?

Teams are pushing for a bigger slice of the TV rights deal, reportedly worth $7.7 billion. This new deal runs from 2025 to 2031 and includes FOX, NBC, Amazon, Warner Bros., and TNT Sports (plus CW for the Xfinity Series). Originally, the deal was that teams get 25 percent of the TV revenue through the race purse, while NASCAR takes 10 percent, and the tracks—most of which NASCAR owns—get 65 percent.

As reported by FOX Sports, the new deal (about 35–40 percent) also gave up rights in other areas that could generate revenue, such as ancillary media rights, driver appearance requirements, and a cut in charter sales. The deal is for seven years with an option for another seven.

However, teams had also asked for a permanent charter deal. Especially the smaller teams. However, the demands were not fully met. Yet the teams gave in. “They put a gun to our head, and we had to sign. It is what it is. We move forward.” an owner told The Athletic.

This received outrage from the 23XI side. MJ’s close associate, Curtis Polk, said, “This isn’t the 1960s and these predatory practices will not withstand scrutiny and be accepted in 2024. We are David facing Goliath, NASCAR has superior bargaining power and undue influence over the sport and the charter process.” 

Until all the demands are met, the team will not sign the deal. According to Polk, while other teams may have felt pressured and compelled to sign the agreement under significant duress, 23XI viewed the terms as harmful to their operations and ownership group’s interests and intellectual property rights.

Jenkins cited the same reason for his refusal to sign. He said,

FRM is also a mid-level team if compared to giants in the sport like Hendrick Motorsports or Joe Gibbs Racing. At the crux of it, the fact is that it is expensive to run the teams, as Denny Hamlin had pointed out while starting this debate.

It is expensive to run a race team

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In his argument, Denny Hamlin emphasized a racing team’s expenses. He demanded that NASCAR pay teams $18 million just to put the race car on the track every week. According to him, this would make the competition more competitive. Especially for newer and smaller teams. Being a team owner, Denny Hamlin himself knows what goes into building a team and running it. The 18 million is not a ballpark figure, but a calculated one after.

“As someone who started a team from scratch and kept it as lean as I could, there are MANY other depts at a race team that are necessary to operate. Business, marketing, sponsorship, social media, it goes on and on.”  To cover these costs, teams will need sponsors. However, the lack of permanency of the charter system makes it difficult for teams to attract sponsors. And then the team owners at times have to pump in their personal funds.

According to FOX Sports’ Bob Pockrass, Jenkins has done this. Pockrass took to X and wrote, ” FRM owner Bob Jenkins owns restaurants and probably has lost millions every year. My guess is he has put more of his own money into the sport without sponsorship covering it than nearly any other owner over last couple decades.”

It’s a bit unclear what will happen if they don’t sign. We don’t know if NASCAR will just take the charters back and sell them or hold onto them for a while to see if the teams come around. Right now, both 23XI and Front Row each have two charters and are expecting to pick up one of Stewart-Haas Racing’s charters after this season.