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Sports and TV Industries Antitrust Litigations Update

By Stan Soocher
February 01, 2025

Sports leagues and competitions' market clout and the increasing consolidation of sports content-streaming companies have recently spawned several civil antitrust actions aimed at reigning in these market powers.

In 2311 Racing LLC v. National Association of Stock Car Racing LLC (NASCAR), 3:24-CV-00886 (W.D.N.C.), racing teams 2311 and Front Row Motorsports Inc. have sued NASCAR over the latter’s inclusion of a waiver clause in agreements that permit teams to compete in NASCAR’s 2025 pinnacle Cup Series. The disputed clause states in part: “Team Owner … hereby releases and forever discharges [NASCAR Event Management] ... from all [claims] ... arising out of or relating to the criteria used by [NASCAR Event Management] to determine whether or not to enter into, or to offer to enter into, a Charter Member Agreement with the Team Owner or any other Person ....

Thirteen of NASCAR’s 15 teams signed the 2025 Charter Agreement in September 2024 allegedly based on NASCAR’s ending contract negotiations and requiring the teams to sign the charter agreements within a few hours. The other two teams 2311 and Front Row instead filed an antitrust complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina accusing NASCAR of antitrust activity in violation of the federal Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. §§1 and 2.

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