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The NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, MLS, NASCAR, UFC and WWE have unveiled an agreement with Fanatics, the White House and America250 that will see an exclusive USA 250 patch and logo featured on athlete uniforms and performance gear, as well as in the venues where they compete during marquee moments throughout 2026.
“My name is Michael Jeffrey Jordan, and I grew up in Wilmington, North Carolina.” That is how the tall man in the navy blue suit introduced himself to a federal courtroom in Charlotte on Friday, as Jordan took the witness stand in the NASCAR antitrust lawsuit brought by his race team, 23XI Racing, and one other. In exactly one hour of testimony, Jordan calmly made a case for why NASCAR needed to have a better partnership with its race teams — and said as a lifelong fan of stock car racing, he felt he was the one to bring about change through this lawsuit stemming from recent charter negotiations between the league and its teams that resulted in what he saw as unacceptable terms.
8,532 days. That’s how long it’s been since NBC’s last NBA game back on June 12, 2002. But that all changes Tuesday night with the start to the NBA season, with the Thunder hosting the Rockets and newly acquired assassin Kevin Durant -- all set to the tune of “Roundball Rock.” Sources tell SBJ that Commissioner Adam Silver and NBC Sports President Rick Cordella will take in part of the game together in Oklahoma City. It’s a major moment for the NBA with its $77 billion in new media rights deals. But there are going to be growing pains. Last week, I wrote about how the NBA has added a “Tap to Watch” discoverability feature for games this season with two new media partners in NBC/Peacock and Prime Video. It’s a good idea, especially after the NBA has watched issues on discoverability with MLB, Big Ten football, NASCAR and others when media deals start with new partners.
Michael Jordan has taken a major loss off the racetrack. Jordan’s 23XI Racing, and Front Row Motorsports, are now at risk of losing their NASCAR charter status—the sport’s version of franchises—as the entities’ legal battles continue. On Thursday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit vacated a preliminary injunction, ordered in December by a U.S. District Court in North Carolina, that required NASCAR to treat 23XI and Front Row as chartered teams for the 2025 season.
Microbetting company nVenue has partnered with the WNBA to provide its predictive analytics for the 2025 season, the startup’s first deal with a women’s sports property after previous work with the NBA, NASCAR and Apple TV for its Friday night MLB games. This follows a recent multimillion-dollar funding round from strategic investors FDJ Ventures, The Collectiv, and DigitalWin. Lead investor KB Partners also added participated with a follow-on check.
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False Alarm: The NBA and NASCAR are not dipping into cryptocurrency. At around 2:45 p.m. ET Tuesday, the NBA’s Twitter account announced to its 48.1 million followers that it launched a crypto coin —$NBA Coin— under the Solana network.
The 2025 NASCAR season begins Sunday at the Daytona 500 with a big change, and one major outstanding issue, off the track. On a positive note, NASCAR is entering the first season of new seven-year, $7.7 billion media-rights deals. On the flip side, the season begins with an unsettled antitrust lawsuit from two teams, including one owned by Michael Jordan. Also in 2025, NASCAR will race in a new country and launch an in-season tournament as the sport looks to continue its push into the mainstream.
As the NASCAR world descends upon Daytona International Speedway, two teams—Jordan’s 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports—are beginning the season as uncharted members as their antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR plays out in court. Last year, the teams were the only two not to sign NASCAR’s new charter agreement, instead suing the sanctioning body, arguing for a larger share of annual revenue distribution. 23XI Racing driver Tyler Reddick was one of four drivers to make it to the NASCAR Cup Series championship race last season, which was ultimately won by Joey Logano.
23XI Racing co-owners Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin started off NASCAR championship week by facing the sanctioning body in federal court. 23XI, which along with Front Row Motorsports is suing NASCAR and its CEO Jim France for antitrust violations, had its first in-person courtroom showdown with NASCAR during a Monday hearing over a preliminary injunction request.
The NBA executive also noted that Amazon promised to promote NBA games in its broadest-reaching sports properties, including “Thursday Night Football,” while Warner Bros. Discovery “substituted an obligation to promote the NBA in any “Major Sporting League” distributed on TNT or Max, a defined term which TBS expanded to include NASCAR and certain college sporting events – making this promotional commitment less valuable to the NBA.”
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Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan was at Sunday’s NASCAR race at Michigan International Speedway. Jordan is the co-owner of 23XI Racing, which fields a pair of Toyotas in the Cup Series – No. 23 Bubba Wallace and No. 45 Tyler Reddick. Both are sponsored by McDonald’s this week.
According to a class action settlement filed on May 3, retired NFL star Rob “Gronk” Gronkowski will pay the largest share of $1.9 million. NBA player Victor Oladipo will pay $500,000 and NASCAR driver Landon Cassill will pay $25,000. All three sports stars have agreed to the settlements without admitting to or denying any of the accusations.
Sports TV Ratings: Most-viewed sports events of the weekend: Lakers/Nuggets gm 1, ABC: 5.652m Mavs/Clippers gm 1, ABC: 4.661m NASCAR Talladega, Fox: 4.307m 76ers/Knicks gm1, ESPN: 4.192m
Michael Jordan’s young tenure as a NASCAR team owner is already notably more successful than his time owning an NBA team—and he’s not trying to hide his excitement about the rubber-burning passion. Tyler Reddick’s victory at Talladega on Sunday marked the first time His Airness was in attendance for a race won by one of the drivers at his majority-owned 23XI Racing, which launched in 2021. “This is, to me, like an NBA playoff game,” Jordan said in an interview with Fox Sports from Victory Lane. “I am so ecstatic.”