Some quick thoughts here …
News out of court in Charlotte today is that a settlement has been reached in the antritrust lawsuit brought by 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports against NASCAR.
I think the entire racing industry in this country is breathing a huge sigh of relief to hear a settlement will happen. The repercussions for stock car racing in this country had this case been seen all the way through could have been devastating on numerous levels.
According to reports, Judge Kenneth Bell told the courtroom of the settlement: “I wish we could have done this a few months ago. I believe this is great for NASCAR. Great for the future of NASCAR. Great for the entity of NASCAR. Great for the teams and ultimately great for the fans.”
It’s been reported that 23XI Racing ownership partner Michael Jordan – while waiting in the courtroom for the official announcement – said “Today’s a good day.”
I think most watchers of the case would agree that NASCAR has been getting throttled in court, and also potentially opening themselves up to additional litigation from other parties.
This has been a total public relations disaster for NASCAR since the first day the trial began. I’m sure they’re regretting allowing this to ever see the inside of a court room.
The prevailing opinion of many is that the France family ego got the best of them in allowing this case to go this far. NASCAR has a history in the industry of bullying their way through any uprisings they have faced and it seemed like they believed that tactic would work once again. Instead it has turned into an absolute disaster for them.
More to come later.
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what a sad, sad day for the sport.
Joe,
I think if this case had seen its way through to a jury decision and a judge deciding possible damages and business reorganizations, it would have been a far more sad day for the sport.
as long as the charters got taken down with it, the sport would have been better off.
And seeing as pockrass is reporting that evergreen is the only change to the charter system, im not sure how strong of a case 23xi even felt they had. They didnt get their costs covered. They didnt get governance. And they didnt get access to any new revenue. they got the one thing that cost 0 to nascar.
joe, none of those details have been released. And terms of the evergreen charters have not been determined or agreed upon. The press release did specify that financial terms will not be released.
“Source, and this is murky because there’s going to be a Thursday afternoon call to discuss new charter model: Teams will now share in international revenue for the first time, the three-strike rule will be reinstated as a five-strike rule, teams will get 1/3 of revenue from IP, charter revenue will have to be periodically negotiated amidst new media rights deals.”
its slight different than my original post now as more details trickled. but it still seems like the teams are hundreds of millions away from where they wanted to be.
Well, seems to me nobody knows who got what.
And, Nascar was getting a lot of dirty laundry aired out on their side. So, I’m not in the camp (yet) that 23xi and Front Row were going to lose their suit. Maybe details are going to come out in the future, but I’ve yet to see any specific details, other than boilerplate issued responses. Jmo.
The only way NASCAR could have been so ham-fisted and heavy-handed was if they operated a monopoly.
But to say that NASCAR has been getting “throttled” (pun intended?) is kind. Lots of very dirty and stinky laundry has been aired out, and that can not be undone.
NASCAR did it to themselves.
And I just LOVE that it took Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin to bring this out in the public.
NASCAR treats the race teams as bait to lure in sponsors, and more income to enrich themselves.
You can bet that there has been a mutual agreement to not disclose anything else, also known as the Non-Disclosure Agreement.
NASCAR has fiercely controlled what must be said and cannot be said. “Talking points” are given out. And they are begging that no more dirty laundry gets aired out.
Nothing like some good ole’ sunshine and fresh air to clear up what ails ya!
How’d that NDA work out for RCR?
The sport leaks like a sieve.
if an AP reporter is reporting something…theres a pretty decent chance she knows.
I would bet NASCAR blinked and surrendered to making some kind of settlement in order to stop the flow of dirty laundry. Bill France’s and Steve Phelps’ stance on things reminded me of how business was run in the late 19th and early 20th century. Company owners and bosses gave very little to the poor hapless souls that worked their tails off and made them very wealthy.
I absolutely hate conjecture.
But I will break my own rule and conjecture.
A trial that was supposed to last 2 weeks gets cut short with a settlement.
And today, Micheal Jordan, Roger Penske, Bob Jenkns, and you get the drift, list goes on, all coming out with statements accentuating the positive for team owners.
Nascar stating a fair and equitable agreement was reached.
I’m no lawyer or rocket scientist, but tell me if I’m wrong. Someone finally made Nascar blink.
It’s the first time I ever remember this happening in any way, shape or form. No matter who made it happen.
We are never going to see the “agreement”, but, my opinion is the owners of cup teams are in a better situation now moving forward, than yesterday. I think nascar is in damage control mode moving forward and licking some wounds.
Now I’m sure it won’t make any difference on lower tier series with how Nascar handles them (as no charters),
But it appears to this novice , that the top dogs (cup series) owners got a big win. Jmo
Bob, Agree with you completely. NASCAR was blinking madly, they were screaming, “MAKE THIS GO AWAY!!!”
NASCAR is family owned, not publicly traded, they don’t need shareholders, they don’t answer to a Board of Directors, stake holders, etc. NASCAR is a CASH COW!!!!! And now it needs to stop abusing the teams and sponsors that make it all possible.
Michael Jordan has very little NASCAR history, compared to all the long term owners, and therefore he has no dirty laundry, so he was good to go and disrupt the status quo.
It was PERFECT!!!!
Denny Hamlin is a CHAMPION!!!
BE LIKE MIKE!!!
An issue that seems clear as a result of this lawsuit is that the Kennedy/France ownership needs to streamline their executive team, starting by firing Phelps, O’Donnell, and any others likely involved with the setup of a possibly fake RCR investor and disclosure of an NDA. Its been pretty clear for a while that the executive leadership team has been giving up grassroots involvement by ceding to organizations like CARS, ASA, UARA, Trans Am, the new IHRA oval series, etc.