Michael Jordan made a rare courtroom appearance Friday, testifying for nearly an hour in the high-stakes antitrust lawsuit brought by his NASCAR team, 23XI Racing, and Front Row Motorsports against the stock-car series.
The six-time NBA champion told jurors he has loved NASCAR since childhood, but felt he had no choice but to help take the organization to court over a business model he believes is unfair, unbalanced, and damaging to teams and drivers.
Jordan, soft-spoken but direct, said he entered NASCAR hoping to help push the sport forward. But once inside, he saw veteran team owners “brow-beaten for so many years” when they tried to improve the system.
“Someone had to step forward and challenge the entity,” Jordan testified. “I wasn’t afraid. I felt I could challenge NASCAR as a whole… the sport needed to be looked at from a different view.”
His testimony came in a packed courtroom and followed dramatic statements from other witnesses, including Heather Gibbs, daughter-in-law of NFL and NASCAR Hall of Famer Joe Gibbs, who described the charter negotiations as chaotic and coercive.
Gibbs said teams were given just six hours in September 2024 to sign a 112-page charter extension or risk losing the charters that guarantee starting spots and revenue for each race.
“It was like a gun to your head: If you don’t sign, you have nothing,” she told jurors.
The charter system, introduced in 2016, was meant to function like franchise ownership does in other professional sports, giving teams stability and long-term investment value. For two years, teams pushed for permanent charters. NASCAR refused, and the conflict reached a breaking point.
Jordan testified that NASCAR repeatedly refused to consider changes or even discuss team concerns. He said this rigid stance directly influenced 23XI’s refusal to sign the extension last fall.
Jordan explained that he didn’t believe the deal was economically viable, that he viewed the clause preventing teams from suing NASCAR as an antitrust violation, and that the ultimatum NASCAR issued was unfair to 23XI. He also compared NASCAR’s financial structure to the NBA’s, where players receive roughly half of the league’s revenue.
“The revenue split was far less than any business I’ve ever been part of,” Jordan said. “We wanted to move in that direction.”
Jordan revealed he owns 60% of 23XI and has invested $35–40 million into the team, including the purchase of a third charter for $28 million in 2024, despite the uncertainty.
“I’m pretty sure they know I love to win,” he said. “Denny convinced me a third driver improved our chances, so I dove in.”
Meanwhile, Heather Gibbs described how the negotiations devastated her family’s organization. JGR, one of NASCAR’s premier teams with 450 employees, relies entirely on sponsorship and investment to survive. With both of Joe Gibbs’ sons gone and the team built as a family legacy, she said permanent charters are essential to protect their future.
“It is absolutely vital to the teams for us to know we have security,” she testified. “To know what we’ve invested in is ours.”
The NASCAR trial continues next week, with the sport’s financial structure and its future under unprecedented scrutiny.