RCR Is Left Saying, "Can You Hear Me Now?"

by 4ever3 on Jan 30, 2007 11:03 PM EST

It still doesn't look that good for AT&T's phasing out of Cingular's name on the #31 RCR car driven by Jeff Burton. AT&T purchased Cingular and is planning on phasing out the name on all of it's products and sponsorships, including it's sponsorship of Jeff Buton's ride.

The problem is that NEXTEL has what is essentially a no-competition clause in their contract with NASCAR, in that no other telecommunication companies can sponsor a car unless they were already sponsors when NEXTEL took over as the series sponsor. Cingular and Alltel were already sponsors so they got to stay on, but now that AT&T owns Cingular and wants to use it's name instead, NEXTEL is holding firm that AT&T can't use their name on the 31 car because they only allowed the Cingular name and it looks like NASCAR's hands are tied on this one because it appears that the existing contract is firm. Richard Childress is being very tight-lipped about this in hopes that NASCAR will fix the problem.

I can see this from both points of view;

- if I were NEXTEL I would hold firm and not give in - a contract is a contract after all, and I wouldn't want a major competitor in my series if I could prevent it - that's for sure.

- if I were NASCAR I would want the name change to occur because good paying sponsors are hard to find these days - especially for competitive teams and it is also a slap in the face for one of the more storied owners in the business. Talk about a major embarrassment for NASCAR if this ends up in AT&T pulling their sponsorship of the 31 car.

Where is the blame to be laid on all of this? On NASCAR. Period. In their haste to sign a new series sponsor after Winston was forced to pull it's sponsorship they clearly gave in to concessions that are now hurting them. By clearly being obtuse in their vision of potential car sponsors they shut out a whole industry by not allowing any mobile telecommunication sponsorships anymore. With tech and telecom industries growing rapidly they should have had the foresight to see that other companies such as AT&T (who have sponsored cars in the past) would be bought, sold, merged, etc., as is always the case (even AOL was bought by Time/Warner). The great NASCAR brain-trust needs to fix this, and fix it fast, because if they don't it is going to get very ugly, very public, and very embarrassing.

Tweet Comment 4 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Read More: childress, rcr, jeff burton, nextel, att, cingular, nascar

Comments

I myself see this as NO Problem. Let them change lt. That would only show NEXTEL as a stand up company. Gr8 pr, don't let them have it then, greedy company well within it's rights.

by Tiredawg on Jan 31, 2007 5:51 AM EST reply actions

A contract is a contract, I agree.

Why doesn't AT&T just keep the Cingular Brand for a while longer, until their #31 contract expires?

I know that won't help with future #31 sponsorship, but it would salvage the vroom present!

by 101 on Jan 31, 2007 5:56 AM EST reply actions

Just canceled my Nextel contract because I heard this. Ridiculous!!!!!

by maxiraoo on Mar 16, 2007 11:02 PM EDT reply actions

Wednesday, March 28, 2007
NASCAR fires back at AT&T in legal battle

By Mike Mulhern
JOURNAL REPORTER

AT&T has been pressuring NASCAR with its lawsuit over how to paint the quarter panels on Jeff Burton's Nextel Cup car as it rebrands Cingular under the AT&T logo.

According to papers being filed in the suit, NASCAR officials told Stan Sigman, the president and CEO of Cingular, five weeks ago that in April 2005, George Pyne, NASCAR's CEO at the time, told the Richard Childress-Burton team that it would not allow a change in paint scheme or logos if Cingular was bought and had its name changed.

NASCAR further said that its grandfathering of Cingular - after Nextel signed on as the series sponsor - "was tied directly to the Cingular Wireless brand and not the Cingular company."

The papers further say that "it is generally not in NASCAR's interest to limit sponsors' participation in the sport." NASCAR suggested that AT&T could sponsor a Busch team or a Trucks team instead, if it wished. That is precisely the route that Verizon has taken.

NASCAR's filing refers specifically to Pyne's letter to Childress, dated April 4, 2005. It specifies that "should Cingular be acquired by a third party, the Cingular brand is continually welcome as a team sponsor. However, should the company's name change, we will not allow any paint scheme or branding on the car promoting this new name."

The papers go on to say: "NASCAR certainly has no desire to eliminate the Cingular brand from NASCAR Nextel Cup series competition." But, "unfortunately AT&T's decision to purchase Cingular and then to eliminate the Cingular brand puts NASCAR in the position of having to now enforce the rights granted Nextel in the series sponsorship agreement."

NASCAR and Nextel signed their initial agreements in the summer of 2003, with Nextel taking over the sponsorship from R. J. Reynolds for the start of the 2004 season.

by Anonymous on Mar 28, 2007 9:57 AM EDT reply actions