Amidst the silly season drama and the hype surrounding the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series schedule, the big talking point—charter negotiations have been kind of swept under the rug. Just four months until the end of the 2024 season, and there will be a charter agreement between the team owners and NASCAR.

For the sport to keep running the way it is, a new charter deal needs to be inked between the two parties. However, the previous meetings have led to a stalemate situation without any concrete resolution of the dispute. The teams continue to argue for a better revenue share along with permanent charters, but NASCAR is reluctant to share the power and influence it has had over the years.

Even 23XI Racing co-owner Michael Jordan expressed his concern over the disagreement: “If you don’t correct that, the sport’s going to die not because of the competition aspect, but because economically, it doesn’t make sense for any business people.” But NASCAR seems to have tunnel-visioned themselves into their ambitious plans for 2025.

It looks like NASCAR has been busy with its schedule planning for the 2025 Cup Series season. Although there is no official word on the dates regarding next year’s races, prominent journalist Jordan Bianchi dropped big news yesterday. According to the report, the Talladega Superspeedway race will move up to the semi-final stages. Usually, the track retains its place in the second stage of the knockout rounds.
What’s more surprising was the fact that the Homestead-Miami Speedway lost its playoff place and was reduced to just a regular-season feature. Atlanta and Watkins Glen also suffered a similar fate, as Homestead in losing their playoff dates. Surprisingly, the road course race at Roval retained its spot and is now the only road racing event in the knockout rounds. Then there is the prospect of an international points race either in Mexico City or Montreal. And, evidently, it is not sitting well with the fans.

However, all of this planning would amount to nothing without the new charter agreement. NASCAR has offered a seven-year extension to the current charter agreement, but teams are holding firm on their demands for a permanent charter. As far as NASCAR is concerned, they have bagged a $7.7 billion TV deal along with streaming partners. So the onus is on the Cup Series teams to find a middle ground.

However, good news for Michael Jordan and other team owners: the latest developments suggest that the two parties have agreed on a few points, but the job is far from done.

More update on NASCAR’s split TV revenue dispute
According to a report by the Sports Business Journal, the two sides have found common ground regarding the revenue split from the TV deal. However, there’s no confirmation regarding the permanent status of the team charters or the equal sharing of new revenue streams. The France family has owned the sport ever since its inception, and they aren’t looking to lose their grip on terms of power sharing and equal governance with the teams.

Additionally, there are whispers that the new charter agreement could include a key clause barring sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) from investing. These funds, backed by national revenues, have a history of expanding into international ventures, including sports. For example, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has made waves with its stakes in LIV Golf and Newcastle United.
Meanwhile, the teams in response are threatened to boycott the Netflix docuseries Full: Speed season 2. The 2023 edition of the show was entirely funded by NASCAR, which highlighted the thrilling behind-the-scenes action of playoffs, along with the hint of the personal lifestyle of the drivers. However, some teams have decided to ditch their participation in the shooting of the series as a gesture of discontent over the stalled charter agreement.

With the playoffs of the 2024 season fast approaching, both NASCAR and the teams will have to work overtime to broker a peace deal and ink a new charter deal. While charter teams continue to finish in the bottom three for three years in a row, they continue to be in a tough spot. Thanks to Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick, Michael Jordan & Co. is far from such worries.