23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports have turned their attention to F1 owner Liberty Media as part of the ongoing lawsuit against NASCAR and CEO Jim France.
The two teams filed a subpoena in a federal district court in Colorado to compel Liberty Media to produce documents and information regarding the revenue and governance of F1.
To avoid sharing private information about F1's revenue with the public, the subpoena noted that Liberty Media could mark sensitive documents as highly confidential. Doing so "will ensure the documents are only seen by counsel, experts, and the court."
The key documents and categories mentioned in the subpoena include the following:
- Revenue - The example of revenue include expansion fees, facility, franchise sales, gambling, internet programming, intellectual property, merchandise, signage, seat licensing, sponsorship, broadcast, concessions, and tickets.
- The valuation of current and expansion teams
- The amount of revenue split between F1 and its teams
- The formula for splitting the revenue based on listed revenue sources
- The Concorde Agreement which governs the relationship between F1 and its teams
The purpose of obtaining these documents is to calculate damages using a "yardstick" method that compares F1's structure to NASCAR's. This is part of the discovery process as the two Cup teams build their case against NASCAR.
The discovery period provides the teams with a limited amount of time to gather facts. They have until June 30. The scheduled trial start date is Dec. 1, 2025.
According to Sports Illustrated, which first reported the subpoena news, the two teams previously requested information from Liberty Media. The company refused, so 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports filed the subpoena.
Fox Sports noted that on March 31, the two teams filed a motion in a U.S. District Court in New York City to compel the NFL, NBA, and NHL to comply with subpoenas.
Getting information from these other sports leagues would provide 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports with the opportunity to compare revenue sharing during the trial.