NASCAR President Breaks Silence On 2025 Charters Amid Antitrust Lawsuit Battle

NASCAR President Steve Phelps has broken his silence amid the ongoing antitrust lawsuit, addressing the contentious charter system at Phoenix Raceway. In light of legal disputes with 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, Phelps remains tight-lipped regarding specific negotiations but has reiterated NASCAR’s stance on charter agreements for 2025.

The antitrust lawsuit filed by 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports centers on NASCAR’s charter system. Charters essentially guarantee teams a spot in race events, providing a stable revenue stream. Tensions arose when NASCAR presented a take-it-or-leave-it charter proposal, which most teams accepted, but 23XI and FRM did not.

This rejection led to the teams seeking legal recourse, alleging monopolistic practices that could harm premier stock car racing teams. The court, however, denied their request for a preliminary injunction to maintain charter status, prolonging the legal battle.

Steve Phelps, NASCAR’s president since 2018, has chosen to remain publicly guarded on the specifics of the lawsuit and charter negotiations. Whilst speaking to the media in Phoenix, Phelps explained:

“There’s been some frustration in the room that NASCAR over the last two and a half years has not talked about charters publicly or with the media.

“We have done that purposely. We don’t believe the media is a place to have discussions about our negotiations with our race teams. That was by design, and I know people are frustrated about that.

“… We are not going to answer any questions today about charters. … We are in active litigation and that matter is closed at least at this point.”

One significant development in this context is the seven-year media rights deal worth $7.7 billion, effective from 2025 to 2031. Phelps indicated that the new charter agreements, extending 32 out of 36 charters, primarily aim to rectify financial burdens faced by race teams. He added:

“We are very happy that 32 of our 36 charters were extended.

“We are excited about the deal that was put on the table for them, which primarily the big win for race teams was money. I won’t go in what that money split looks like. But what I will say is that amount of money puts the race teams starting in 2025 as the single largest beneficiary of our media deal. We did that because our race teams are upside down financially.

“So, two ways to get out of that. You give them more money or help them earn more money through sponsorship. We have done the former. We’re going to do the latter to help our race teams and then try to cut costs. That provides for healthy race teams.

“And that’s our expectation moving forward that our race teams are going to be financially healthy. Why should fans care about that? Fans should care about that because healthy race teams provide better racing, full stop. So, we’re excited about what that looks like.”