NASCAR Put Charter Ball in Michael Jordan’s Court, But He & Denny Hamlin Won’t Shoot

There are several words in the NASCAR lexicon that fans probably wish to never hear again. Words like “encumbered” and “waiver” are probably high on that list.

Add “charter agreement” to that ever-expanding tally, as another big step in the year-long charter negotiations came to light on Saturday (Sept. 7).

This time, the update isn’t about negotiations. It’s about a done deal.

NASCAR and its Cup Series race teams have reportedly come to an agreement over the next iteration of their charters, a seven-year extension which will run through 2031. The contract length lines up with the next media rights deal, which also lasts through 2031.

According to multiple sources inside the garage, a midnight deadline on Friday night (well, technically Saturday morning) from NASCAR kicked team owners into high gear on signing the deal. Almost every team owner has reportedly signed the agreement.

There is one noteworthy holdout, though. 23XI Racing has outright stated that it has not signed anything, citing it “did not have an opportunity to fairly bargain for a new charter contract.”

Statement from 23XI ownership pic.twitter.com/z0z5rjRjEP

— 23XI Racing (@23XIRacing) September 7, 2024

23XI is reportedly not alone in this holdout, as Front Row Motorsports has also been mentioned along with them. However, FRM has not put out any statement to confirm others’ reporting.

Whatever FRM’s status is, they pale in comparison to 23XI. This year’s regular season Cup champion holding out is a major, major development for two reasons: its co-owners.

First, there’s Denny Hamlin. Hamlin has been extremely vocal about the charter negotiations from the start, among other things he isn’t afraid to speak up about. The three-time Daytona 500 winner is the second oldest Cup Series driver behind Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Martin Truex Jr., and is top five in most starts among active drivers, so he has both experience and respect inside the garage.

As the 43-year-old has risen from hotshot rookie to consistent veteran, he has become less afraid to speak out for what he believes is right. His own podcast, Actions Detrimental, is a must-listen inside the industry and helped build his influence within the sport.

Now, he’s trying to use up that cache… by punching back on what he believes is NASCAR strong-arming teams into a deal.

On Saturday, Hamlin was somewhat measured in person, refusing to elaborate on why 23XI refused to sign beyond the team’s official statement.

But that statement? It speaks for itself. “Not fairly able to bargain” speaks volumes, insinuating NASCAR shoved an agreement down everyone’s throat.

Then, there’s Hamlin’s partner, Michael Jordan. You may or may not have heard of him. He’s only won six NBA titles with the Chicago Bulls, broke several NBA records and arguably is the greatest basketball player, if not the greatest athlete, of all time.

Jordan’s other ventures, business or otherwise, have included majority ownership of the Charlotte Hornets NBA organization, part-ownership of the Miami Marlins MLB organization, and acting alongside the beloved Looney Tunes characters in the hit film Space Jam. Not to mention the dozens of endorsements he’s had throughout his career and retirement.

The NBA Hall of Famer’s most recent business endeavor was 23XI, in which he partnered with Hamlin to start the team in 2021. Hamlin and Jordan go way back, as Hamlin has had a personal sponsorship with the Jordan brand since the early 2010s. With Bubba Wallace as its first driver, the team added a second car with Kurt Busch, then went out and signed Tyler Reddick for 2024 (which later became 2023 when 23XI bought Reddick out of the final year of his contract with Richard Childress Racing).

Halfway through 2023, Jordan sold off most of his stake in the Hornets to put more focus into 23XI. Since then, he has been present for several of 23XI’s big moments, including Wallace’s 2023 playoff berth, Reddick’s victory at Talladega Superspeedway earlier this year (in which he was sponsored by Air Jordan) and Reddick’s regular season championship last week at Darlington Raceway.

Finally won a championship*

*As an owner pic.twitter.com/JSzWozCnIt

— Denny Hamlin (@dennyhamlin) September 2, 2024

Jordan, along with Wallace, has also served as a major gateway for African-Americans, a demographic NASCAR has long been working to appeal to. 23XI has strived since its inception in late 2020 to have a diverse portfolio of employees with a ‘Forward Together’ mindset.

Now, one of the most progressive teams in the garage is holding back. By 23XI holding out of the charter agreement, it now pits NASCAR against not just one of its drivers but a very high-profile owner whose impact and notoriety goes well beyond the garage. It’s a powerful voice whose resistance could come with consequences.

NASCAR vs. Jordan may be the end result. But this impasse began as the France family vs. the race teams that comprise its 40-car grid each weekend.

The recent holdout from 23XI comes after months of Hamlin publicly stating that he felt teams were not getting a fair shake in the new agreement, and that he would continue to fight until NASCAR met their demands.

“There’s probably a handful of teams that are just happy to take any deal that they can get and there’s others with some business sense that says this is unreasonable,” Hamlin told reporters during NASCAR playoff media day on Wednesday (Sept. 4).

Jordan himself has also criticized the negotiations in the past, citing that less money from NASCAR could turn future investors in the sport away.

“In all partnerships, if you grow the pie, that means your business is going to continue to grow,” Jordan said in a New York Times article in May. “And to grow the pie, you’ve got to make sure everybody’s healthy within the partnership. If our ownership in NASCAR is losing money and NASCAR’s the only one making money, that’s not a good partnership.”

But it seems that the Race Team Alliance (the organization in which most race teams have joined has a way of having a voice against the sanctioning body) forgot one crucial detail in negotiations: NASCAR is a family business, running things with limited if any input from anyone else.

Since the beginning, the France family has ruled over NASCAR with an iron fist. First, it was founder Bill France Sr., then his son Bill Jr., then his son Brian, then Brian’s uncle Jim. It’s a self-governing sport, not under the watch of the FIA like most forms of motorsport are.

It was always going to be pretty tough to get NASCAR to budge. And when the echo chamber involves the same people with power, the people with power believe they’re the only ones who can win.

NASCAR has never been high on unions. That was clear in the 1950s-1960s when several attempts were made, only to be disbanded months later, Bill Sr. handing down driver suspensions and punishments dissuading future efforts. While the RTA isn’t exactly a union, the leverage they thought they were going to have was likely never there to begin with.

So while 23XI and Front Row could have a case for holding out, it helps them little if the rest of the teams have signed as reported — especially if JGR, Hendrick Motorsports and Team Penske have signed, as they are still the powerhouses of the sport.

One of the big things that reportedly forced teams into signing was NASCAR threatening to revoke the charters of teams that don’t sign. The consequences further enforce that the France family would always be able to find some sort of leverage over the teams, no matter what kind of leverage the teams felt like they had.

Brad Keselowski noted Saturday that teams weren’t forced into signing, but he emphasized how imperative it was to get a deal done with the season quickly winding down.

“Well, I don’t necessarily know where that’s coming from,” Keselowski said. “Forced is a really strong term, but we are getting to a spot where it’s important to get these things settled. … We’re glad that the economics are improved and to go with where the media landscape has moved.”

Though not a team owner, Wallace was frustrated with the deal and how it turned out for him and 23XI.

“It’s frustrating to see where we’re at,” Wallace said. “Because it impacts my life, livelihood and everything moving forward for my future.”

So where does 23XI go from here?

It’s tricky. One would think with Jordan’s notoriety that he would be able to influence charter negotiations, even if just a little bit. But at the same time, it appears (barring any more statements from teams) that 23XI finds itself in the minority of teams unwilling to sign. And the lone team that allegedly stands with it, Front Row, is a mid-tier team that didn’t even make the playoffs this year.

The truth is, no one knows what kind of ramifications their resistance will have until NASCAR gives its side of the story on negotiations, something the sanctioning body has been rather mum on throughout the negotiation process.

All this chaos comes as Reddick chases the team’s first championship and has great momentum as the playoffs begin at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday.

It’s an unprecedented time in NASCAR, and the most notable athlete in history is in the center of it. The ball is in Jordan and Hamlin’s court, and it doesn’t appear that they’d like to put up any kind of shot anytime soon until another conversation with NASCAR is had.

But why would NASCAR do any more talking? The overwhelming majority of its teams are on board. They’re sending a message to the most competitive athlete on the planet (Jordan) that not only do they hold all the cards, no one else has the guts to think they can win. So why should he?

Buckle up, folks. We may be in for a ride.

Follow Anthony Damcott on X: @AnthonyDamcott