Exclusive: Michael Jordan Gets a Message From “Ted Lasso” of NASCAR

Michael Jordan and Patrick Dees have led vastly differing lives in their respective pursuits of greatness. In 2020, Big Mike became a co-owner of the NASCAR team in 23XI Racing, which had many crediting MJ’s business prowess. And about 5 years before that, Patrick Dees, co-founded Fan Controlled Sports+Expereince in 2015. Now, despite leading different lives, the two may cross each other’s paths at the Talladega Superspeedway this weekend to give us NASCAR fans some great exclusive content! 

NASCAR’s Revolutionary ‘outsider’ to rub shoulders with Michael Jordan at Talladega

Last November in Phoenix, FCSE debuted in the Xfinity Championship race with the first “Fan Controlled” car. This revolutionary initiative allowed diehards to put themselves in the shoes of the “virtual crew chief,” commanding cars on an iconic track such as Phoenix. Now, FCSE is ready to do it all over again at Talladega this Saturday. In an Exclusive Conversation with EssentiallySports, FCSE’s co-founder, and a self-proclaimed “NASCAR neophyte,” drew comparisons between him and Ted Lasso, the fictional college football coach who took the world of soccer by storm. 

Similar to Michael Jordan, who also made a dominant ‘outsider’s’ mark on NASCAR with his new-age Cup team, 23XI Racing, Dees will be heading to Talladega this weekend to support FCSE’s sponsored entry with SS-Green Light Racing. And the same will ‘his Airness’ look to do, but for his own team in the Cup Series. This could lead to a potential exchange between these two iconic entities steadily making their marks on stock car racing.

What does Patrick Dees look to learn from the NASCAR team owner? “I think I would succinctly wanna know what the path to success was,” he told EssentiallySports.

Dees then elaborated on his initial sentiment with a wholesome anecdote reflecting his new-age ingenuity. “And I’ll couch that by saying when I was early in my startup career I had a mentor, we’d have this exit and he was going on to do different things and I grabbed him and I was like ‘What’s that one piece of advice? What’s that one thing you can give to take with me?’

Dees’ mentor shared some outstanding wisdom: “Success is not all about what you say no to. Strategy is what you say no to.” He then explained how this simple quote would influence his discussions with Big Mike by saying, “You gotta be selective and chase the things that matter in ROI and you are passionate about. I think I’d wanna know what are the things that he (Michael Jordan) said no to get where he is.”

Knowing Jordan’s relentless pursuit of excellence, this conversation between two passionate leaders promises to be a fascinating one. Dees believes Fan Controlled is the future of sports entertainment, and with the longest track of the NASCAR season looming large, what better place to witness the latest innovation waiting for NASCAR?