The 23XI Racing/Front Row Motorsports vs. NASCAR antitrust lawsuit heated up in a major way this week, with multiple filings of note.
This time, NASCAR wasn’t the only major sporting body involved.
Here’s everything that happened in the case from April 5 to April 11.
- On Monday, April 7, the teams filed a motion with the United States District Court of Colorado in an attempt to get Liberty Media and Formula 1 to comply with a subpoena issued that could help the teams measure damages in their antitrust suit.
- In New York Southern District Court, 23XI and FRM also also want documents from the NBA, NFL and NHL that prove how much said leagues pay their teams and what percentage of that payment is the team’s revenue.
- The same day, the NFL denied the teams’ request, saying that, “The subpoena is based on the flimsiest of premises: that because Plaintiffs are suing NASCAR, they can obtain — by ways of federal process — financials, financial projections, research, studies, analyses and other high confidential, proprietary, and commercially sensitive information belonging to almost every other major sports league in the United States.”
- On Thursday, April 10, INDYCAR was added to the list of major sports leagues that 23XI and FRM sought information from. But like the NFL, INDYCAR did not see a reason to comply with the teams.
- INDYCAR’s response stated that, “Indeed, NASCAR and INDYCAR are distinctive sports organizations that each have their own unique business operations, practices, contractual arrangements, programs and services. There is no comparison that would make the granular inner workings of INDYCAR’s business operations, financials, revenues and charters, among other things, relevant to NASCAR’s alleged anticompetitive business practice with respect to NASCAR’s charter agreements for racing teams competing in NASCAR series.”
A member of the National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA), Samuel also covers NASCAR for Yardbarker, Field Level Media, and Heavy Sports. He will attend the University of Arkansas in the fall of 2025.