Posted on 08/13/2007 4:27:30 PM PDT by Captain Jack Aubrey
A federal appeals court on Monday gave NASCAR a huge victory in the racing organization's ongoing battle with AT&T.
In a reversal of a lower court's decision, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta ruled that AT&T doesn't have the right to sue NASCAR over a sponsorship disagreement.
The upshot: NASCAR is close to being able to require that AT&T logos be stripped from the No. 31 car, which is driven by Jeff Burton. That finding is a big switch from May, when Judge Marvin Shoob of U.S. District Court in Atlanta granted AT&T a preliminary injunction that allowed the company's logos to appear on the car.
The whole controversy centers around AT&T's attempt to drop the former Cingular Wireless brand.
Cingular, based in Atlanta, has been a NASCAR sponsor since 2001, thanks to a deal with the owner of the No. 31 car, Richard Childress Racing.
When Sprint Nextel became the top sponsor of NASCAR's highest level of racing, the organization agreed to give Sprint exclusive sponsorship rights as a telecommunications provider. Cingular was "grandfathered" in, and thus allowed to remain as a car sponsor.
In late December, San Antonio-based AT&T took full ownership of Cingular, which formerly was a joint venture of AT&T and BellSouth. As part of the change, AT&T decided to drop the Cingular name, whether on stores or in advertising or through sponsorships.
The company soon asked NASCAR to approve a switch in logos on the No. 31 car. The organization balked, citing its deal with Sprint for the Nextel Cup.
The dispute set off a legal fight, starting with an AT&T suit against NASCAR in March. When Shoob later ruled in AT&T's favor, the No. 31 car was quickly redecorated with AT&T's globe logo. AT&T also renewed its sponsorship deal with Richard Childress Racing to run through at least 2010.
Mark Siegel, a spokesman for AT&T's wireless unit, said the company was weighing its options in the wake of Monday's ruling. "We're continuing to pursue our right to put the AT&T name on the car," he said.
NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston said AT&T has five days to decide what to do, so the racing organization is unlikely to request immediate changes to the No. 31 car. Nonetheless, he hailed the ruling.
"NASCAR is obviously pleased," Poston said. "It is a victory for the industry and every driver, team and NASCAR partner."
The next Nextel Cup race is Sunday, with the 3M Performance 400 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Mich.
AT&T could ask the entire 12-member appeals court to reconsider Monday's ruling, which was issued by a three-judge panel. In an order also released Monday, the 11th Circuit said it would continue to expedite consideration of the case.
If the full court declines to hear an appeal, AT&T's last recourse is the U.S. Supreme Court.
The 11th Circuit panel ruled AT&T had no legal standing to bring the lawsuit in the first place and, for this reason, can no longer try and interpret Richard Childress Racing's agreement with NASCAR to its advantage.
The court noted that AT&T was not a party to the sponsorship contract signed by NASCAR and Richard Childress Racing. Moreover, the court said, AT&T was not the intended beneficiary of RCR's agreement and any benefit AT&T gained from it was merely "incidental."
AT&T's NASCAR sponsorship is among many things the company uses to market itself. Racing is considered a prime venue for advertising because it reaches a large group of intensely loyal fans.
Staff Writer Bill Rankin contributed to this report
Because, of course, only one BEER and only one HOME IMPROVEMENT store is allowed to sponsor a car, right??
AT&T should just keep the darn Cingular logo and tell Sprint to %^&* off.
Everyone knows the AT&T , er I mean "CINGULAR" logo.
Gee, I like NASCAR just for the racing. Personally, I pay no attention to the advertising.
I think Cingular is dead as a brand. (Fine with me...I can’t stand these contrived names like Cingular and Verizon). Even the bill I just got says AT&T Wireless.
>>This is terrible news for the fans, RCR and Penske.<<
Why is that. NASCAR needs to be able to sell exclusive sponsorships. If another company can buy out a sponsor and force NASCAR to violate their own exclusive sponsorship rules then NASCAR sponsorships will be worth a lot less money and NASCAR will suffer.
OH, you mean sort of like SPRINT buying out NEXTEL and renaming the series. Teams shouldn’t be allowed to do things like that?
>>OH, you mean sort of like SPRINT buying out NEXTEL and renaming the series. Teams shouldn’t be allowed to do things like that?<<
Did that violate an exclusive agreement? I’m genuinely asking - I don’t know the answer.
Wrong. If NASCAR were sponsored by Budweiser for instance, you wouldn't have either Miller Light or Coors as car sponsors. That's the way exclusivity works at the league-level.
If your company were dumping a pile of money into a racing league why would you want your chief competitor drafting on your investment?
Hmmm...forgot about that.
I don’t follow the Busch series - is more than one brand of beer allowed to sponsor a car in that group - because I was pretty sure I saw a Tecate car racin’ around on a Saturday.
It’s ridiculous that NASCAR is messing with drivers’ sponsors. There’s no reason why Nextel/Sprint should have exclusivity.
Bring back the WINSTON!
Hmmm...forgot about that.
I don’t follow the Busch series - is more than one brand of beer allowed to sponsor a car in that group - because I was pretty sure I saw a Tecate car racin’ around on a Saturday.
It’s ridiculous that NASCAR is messing with drivers’ sponsors. There’s no reason why Nextel/Sprint should have exclusivity.
Bring back the WINSTON!
>>It’s ridiculous that NASCAR is messing with drivers’ sponsors. There’s no reason why Nextel/Sprint should have exclusivity.<<
The problem is that Sprint/Nextel paid $750 million dollars and got exclusive sponsorship rights. Thats a lot of money.
NASCAR is not about car racing. NBA,NFL, MLB is not about sports. It is all about how many BUTTS they can put in the seats.
.....Bob
I can see that except for one thing. Cingular sponsored the 31 car before Sprint/Nextel took over the series. I would be fine if NASCAR said no to new sponsorships by mobile carriers, say, Verizon or T-Mobile. Nextel was bought out by Sprint, and Cingular was bought by AT&T - technically it’s not a new sponsorship - the 31 car is sponsored by the Cingular corporate entity, whether it’s Cingular or AT&T - it’s not a “new” sponsorship.
Our S-I-L and daughter will be driving on the 25th at the Altamont Raceway Park in Formula IV cars (4 cyl stock) with no sponsor logos displayed.
Sat night (11th), SIL took 1st place in the main. Logos probably would have slowed ‘em down. :)
Exciting night of racing. One driver in the modifieds went airborn. No injuries, but I think he got a boost in his frequent flyer mile.
The drivers have no say in who is the cup owner, and their sponsors are their only way to finance the millions required to compete.
But that’s just my humble opinion.
>>I can see that except for one thing. Cingular sponsored the 31 car before Sprint/Nextel took over the series. I would be fine if NASCAR said no to new sponsorships by mobile carriers, say, Verizon or T-Mobile. Nextel was bought out by Sprint, and Cingular was bought by AT&T - technically it’s not a new sponsorship - the 31 car is sponsored by the Cingular corporate entity, whether it’s Cingular or AT&T - it’s not a “new” sponsorship.<<
My understanding is that the could have kept the Cingular name and kept the sponsorship. But once they put the AT&T name on the car that put NASCAR in danger of losing the $750 million.
An anology - say Coke was the main NASCAR sponsor and exclusive rights to Cola products.
Say that Perrier water had a NASCAR car.
Say Pepsi bought Perrier.
They should be able to keep Perrier on the car but not put Pepsi on the car. IMO.
Say Pepsi bought
Dude! We’re just over the pass from Altamont!
Tell your daughter best of luck and let me know how she does!
Dude! We’re just over the pass from Altamont!
Tell your daughter best of luck and let me know how she does!
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