CHARLOTTE, N.C. – NASCAR has requested a judicial settlement conference in federal court with the aim of having an independent judge mediate the antitrust lawsuit filed by 23XI Racing, owned by Michael Jordan, and Front Row Motorsports. The two teams responded in their own presentation on Monday night, expressing their desire to continue working with mediator Jeffrey Mishkin, former executive vice president and general counsel of the NBA, who has been negotiating between both parties during this year.
“Mr. Mishkin has invested a great deal of time in getting to know this case and meeting with the parties,” 23XI and Front Row stated in their presentation. “Therefore, the plaintiffs have requested that NASCAR continue to dialogue with them through Mr. Mishkin or make a settlement offer directly to the plaintiffs’ attorneys, but NASCAR has not responded to those requests and, instead, filed this motion.
23XI and Front Row
The teams argued that Mishkin “has significant experience in complex antitrust litigation related to sports and has acted as an arbitrator or mediator for the International Court of Arbitration for Sport, the America’s Cup, FIFA and the NFL, among others”. Also, the teams maintain that “starting over” with a new mediator is “less likely, not more likely, to lead to a resolution”. These opposing motions come as NASCAR seeks a summary judgment to dismiss the case before the start of the trial, scheduled for December 1. The hearing on that motion is scheduled for October 21. The issue at hand is the protection of the franchise system that is at the heart of NASCAR’s business model and the focal point of the legal battle. This system is NASCAR’s version of a franchise model. A franchise guarantees owners spots in the competition, a base amount of income each year, and, according to NASCAR, has created more than $1.5 billion in equity value for its teams since 2016. A year ago, 13 of the 15 teams re-signed when they believed that more than two years of negotiations would not lead to a better deal. 23XI, co-owned by Jordan and three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin, and Front Row Motorsports, owned by businessman Bob Jenkins, went to court instead. For months, the other 13 teams have privately complained that the lawsuit is creating uncertainty about the future of NASCAR. Mishkin has made no progress toward a settlement and NASCAR now wants a federal judge, other than U.S. District Judge Kenneth Bell, who is presiding over the case, to hear both sides and advise on a resolution. Last week, most of NASCAR’s top teams filed statements asking for an agreement and protection of the franchise system, which NASCAR pointed out in its presentation Monday night to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina.“It seems that NASCAR is not happy with the diagnosis and wants to seek a second opinion”.
23XI and Front Row
Both parties have shown their willingness to dialogue, but no progress has been made. Through a judicial conciliation conference, NASCAR hopes to have a judge who can help direct the conversations and offer information on how a jury might interpret NASCAR’s complex antitrust case. The court must approve NASCAR’s request. All parties have said they are open to an agreement, including Jordan, who also added after a hearing in August that he was willing to take it to trial if necessary.“The willingness of the parties to resolve this matter, along with the interests of others in the sport and the Court in seeing this case resolved, suggest that a judicial settlement conference would be a meaningful way to facilitate a settlement,” NASCAR wrote.
NASCAR
“I hope to go all the way. If I have to fight to the end, for the good of the sport, I will,” he said outside the federal court. “We have always been open to a settlement. We always have been. We have never ruled it out.”
Michael Jordan
