Appeals Court Backs Nascar in Suit Involving AT&T; Sponsorship
14/08/2007 |
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Nascar is likely to be able to remove AT&T; Inc.'s logo from Jeff Burton's No. 31 Chevrolet, after a federal appeals court vacated an earlier decision that had allowed the company to replace the Cingular logo on the car.
San Antonio-based AT&T;, the largest U.S. phone company, lacks standing to challenge Nascar's claim, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta said in its decision.
The ruling vacated a lower court decision that had allowed AT&T; to swap the logos in June. The appeals court remanded the case to the U.S. District Court in Atlanta for dismissal.
``This is good news for every driver and team in the sport, which benefits from our exclusive relationships,'' Nascar said in a statement. ``As we've said, there are three key sponsorship positions that benefit everyone in the industry -- the tire manufacturer, the fuel supplier and the series title sponsors. This decision confirms those relationships.''
Nascar said in the statement that it expects AT&T; Mobility to comply with the court's order.
AT&T; spokeswoman Monica Mears didn't immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment.
AT&T; took control of Cingular after it bought BellSouth Corp. for $86 billion last year. The company has rebranded the wireless provider under the AT&T; name.
AT&T; sued Nascar in March to replace the Cingular logo on Burton's Richard Childress Racing car. A lower court ruled in its favor in June, and the AT&T; logo has been on the car since then.
Nascar, whose top series is sponsored by Sprint Nextel Corp., has maintained that AT&T; shouldn't be allowed to change the logos because the Nextel Cup sponsorship gives Sprint Nextel exclusive rights as the wireless telephone company of the series.
Since Sprint Nextel's sponsorship of stock car racing's top series began in 2004, only the Cingular car and Alltel Corp.'s backing of a team owned by Roger Penske have been allowed because those deals predated Sprint's agreement with Nascar.
(Source: Bloomberg.com)
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