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Morning Edition

June 6, 2025

Michael Jordan’s 23XI Racing just took a hit in its legal battle with NASCAR. A federal appeals court ruling has put the team’s charter status—and its place on the starting grid for 2025—in serious doubt.

— David Rumsey [[link removed]], Colin Salao [[link removed]], and Eric Fisher [[link removed]]

Michael Jordan’s 23XI May Lose NASCAR Charter After Legal Setback [[link removed]]

Jasen Vinlove-Imagn Images

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 [[link removed]], 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.

Charter status gives teams automatic spots in races and guarantees them larger prize-money payouts.

The attorney representing both 23XI and Front Row, Jeffrey Kessler, issued a statement responding to the court decision.

“We are disappointed by today’s ruling by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals and are reviewing the decision to determine our next step,” Kessler said. “This ruling is based on a very narrow consideration of whether a release of claims in the charter agreements is anti-competitive and does not impact our chances of winning at a trial scheduled for December 1. We remain confident in our case and committed to racing for the entirety of this season as we continue our fight to create a fair and just economic system for stock car racing that is free of anticompetitive, monopolistic conduct.”

The teams can appeal the latest ruling, so the earliest they would potentially have to run a NASCAR Cup Series race without charter status would be June 28 in Atlanta.

Front Row and 23XI initially sued NASCAR in October [[link removed]], calling the France family who owns the organization “monopolistic bullies,” in an effort to get a larger share of media-rights revenue. In March, a lawyer representing NASCAR said [[link removed]] he had “no idea” what the suing teams thought a fair split would be, because it had “never been articulated in any filing.”

Tyler Reddick, 23XI’s top driver this season, is currently sixth in the Cup Series standings, while Bubba Wallace is 10th and Riley Herbst is 35th. Front Row’s Todd Gilliland is 23rd, Zane Smith is 25th, and Noah Gragson is 31st.

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French Open Ratings Up 23% in Week 1 Ahead of Star-Powered Finals [[link removed]]

Susan Mullane-Imagn Images

As TNT Sports said goodbye to the NBA, it welcomed the French Open. That’s not exactly an apples-to-apples exchange, but the Grand Slam is one of the company’s new sports properties that can cushion the blow of losing the rights to one of the major U.S. sports leagues.

Warner Bros. Discovery agreed to a 10-year, $650 million media deal [[link removed]] for the French Open last June, taking it away from NBC (and the Tennis Channel) a month before Comcast would swoop in and take back the rights to the NBA.

The first eight days of WBD’s coverage of the 2025 French Open have been ostensibly strong, averaging 292,000 viewers on TNT, a 23% increase from last year. When adding truTV and Max, WBD announced it saw a 53% increase in total hours watched.

Viewership peaked at 840,000 viewers during Sunday’s match between world No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz and American Ben Shelton.

Despite the increase, the numbers aren’t exactly eye-popping compared to the millions drawn by the NBA. But the first week still brought more viewers to the cable channel, as Roland-Garros coverage through the first week was up 67% versus comparable broadcast windows last year. Given that most matches in Paris air in the morning and early afternoon in the U.S., TNT’s comparison was mostly against reruns of TV shows or movies.

Year 1 Gift

Expect WBD to post an even better week of ratings after being gifted with some strong matchups and U.S. representation. Four Americans advanced to the quarterfinals, including Tommy Paul and Frances Tiafoe, the first time multiple men have made the final eight at the French Open since 1995.

American and world No. 2 Coco Gauff also advanced to the women’s singles final and has a chance to be the first U.S. player to win the French Open [[link removed]] since Serena Williams accomplished it in 2015. She will face a tough test battling top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka.

The men’s semifinals are Friday, but the final could also feature the top two players, as both Jannik Sinner (No. 1) and Carlos Alcaraz (No. 2) are still in contention. The two have a budding rivalry that should bring in many viewers. Sinner could lose in the semis to Novak Djokovic, in which case the Serbian would be chasing a record 25th Grand Slam title at the finale Sunday.

LOUD AND CLEAR Ironing It Out

Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

“I don’t think a straight-up USA vs. World makes sense.”

—NBA commissioner Adam Silver said about the changes to the 2026 All-Star Game format during a press conference Thursday ahead of the NBA Finals. Silver said Wednesday on FS1’s Breakfast Ball that the league will feature “some form” of USA against the World [[link removed]].

He was complimentary of the NHL’s 4 Nations Face-Off this year, but added that a straight USA vs. the World was not exactly what the NHL did, either. Their format pitted players from four different countries: U.S., Canada, Finland, and Sweden. Silver said the NBA is “still experimenting internally” on what the format will look like.

As recently as January, Silver was skeptical of a USA vs. World concept, calling it “old-fashioned” to pit Americans against the world [[link removed]]. “I’m not sure how well that would be received by our international players,” he said.

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Nominations are open through June 22. Submit now [[link removed]].

Ohio State’s Ryan Day Pushes for Big Ten Priority in CFP Format [[link removed]]

Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

The disconnect about the future of the College Football Playoff among the sport’s leaders continues to grow by the day.

While the CFP is moving to a straight-seeding format [[link removed]] this coming season, a decision on further expansion in 2026 and a new structure for a potential 16-team field appears likely to bleed into this fall [[link removed]].

The biggest hurdle for CFP leaders to clear on the road to expansion is how teams will qualify for the Playoff. The Big 12 supports a 5+11 model that would see the five highest-ranked conference champions and the next 11 highest-ranked teams make a 16-team Playoff.

There is also discussion about giving the Big Ten and SEC more guaranteed CFP spots. Ohio State coach Ryan Day told ESPN [[link removed]] on Wednesday that the Big Ten deserves “at least four automatic qualifiers.” That would seem to fall in line with suggested models that give the Big Ten and SEC four CFP bids apiece, while potentially giving the ACC and Big 12 only two each, with at-large spots filling out the rest.

However, Day doesn’t appear ready to give the SEC the same privilege, even as the leagues discuss a scheduling partnership [[link removed]], because they play one less conference game per season. “If you don’t have those automatic qualifiers, you’re less likely to play a game like we’re playing this year against Texas, because it just won’t make sense,” he said. “If we do, then you’re more likely to do that, because we play nine conference games in the Big Ten. The SEC doesn’t. So it’s not equal.”

Big Decisions

Whenever the CFP decides on its format for 2026 and beyond, it will be the Big Ten and SEC that have the largest say [[link removed]]. But will they only be looking out for themselves, or college football at large?

“Yes, they have the pen. But with that pen comes responsibility to do the right thing,” Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark told Front Office Sports last month [[link removed]]. “It’s not written anywhere in the Memorandum of Understanding that they can take the CFP and create a format or make a decision that only benefits their two conferences.”

The CFP has a Dec. 1 deadline to notify its media-rights holder, ESPN, of any expansion or changes for the 2026 season.

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The GM Behind Texas Tech’s NIL Empire

Texas Tech general manager James Blanchard joins Adam Breneman to break down how he helped turn the Red Raiders into one of the most well-resourced, forward-thinking programs in college football.

He shares what a day in the life of a GM looks like, how Texas Tech built the No. 1 transfer portal class, and why NIL (name, image, and likeness) has completely changed the landscape. Blanchard explains the NFL-style structure of their front office and how they evaluate players before they even enter the portal. He also talks about turning down the Notre Dame job, building a $250 million football “resort,” and what it will take to bring a Big 12 title to Lubbock.

Watch the full Next Up episode here [[link removed]].

Conversation Starters The Pacers hosted an “NBA Finals Gear Grab,” a drive-thru to give free merchandise to the first 5,000 cars. Check out [[link removed]] the line in downtown Indianapolis. The Browns broke ground on their $200 million practice HQ district, which will include apartments and commercial spaces. Take a look [[link removed]]. At least 12 of the 32 NFL teams have women as controlling or significantly active owners. Here is the list of teams [[link removed]]. Editors’ Picks Everything You Need to Know About the MLBPA-OneTeam FBI Investigation [[link removed]]by Margaret Fleming [[link removed]]Money from lucrative group licensing deals is under federal scrutiny. Vanessa Richardson on ESPN’s ‘Hoop Streams,’ NBA Finals, Caitlin Clark [[link removed]]by Michael McCarthy [[link removed]]“We’re not trying to be ‘NBA Countdown.’ We’re trying to be a good hang,” Richardson said. Which Sportswear Retailers Are Best Positioned to Raise Prices? [[link removed]]by Lisa Scherzer [[link removed]]Why On can more easily raise prices than Nike. Question of the Day

Should Michael Jordan’s 23XI Racing get to keep its NASCAR charter?

YES [[link removed]] NO [[link removed]]

Thursday’s result: 43% of respondents are less interested in the French Open when there are no American contenders left.

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