NASCAR filed a $100 million counter claim against AT&T Inc. on Sunday, accusing the wireless provider of interfering with its exclusive sponsorship agreement with rival wireless company Nextel.
NASCAR filed the suit electronically in U.S. district court in Atlanta, alleging breach of contract, fraud and misrepresentation, and conspiracy to aid and abet wrongful interference with Nextel.
The two sides have been battling all season over NASCAR's refusal to allow AT&T to put its logos on Jeff Burton's car. Burton and his Richard Childress Racing team have a sponsorship agreement with Cingular, which has since been purchased by AT&T.
NASCAR would not allow the logos to be changed, citing its agreement with Nextel. Cingular and Alltel were grandfathered into the sport when Nextel entered in 2004, but no changes are permitted to their deals and no other companies are allowed into the sport.
AT&T sued, and U.S. District Judge Marvin Shoob in Atlanta issued a preliminary injunction last month that allowed the Cingular logos to be replaced. He also barred NASCAR and any entity affiliated with it from interfering with AT&T's rights as primary sponsor of the car in the Nextel Cup series.
2007-06-17 12:34:33 · 11 answers · asked by Bethany 5 in Sports ➔ Auto Racing ➔ NASCAR
Sources:
http://www.nascar.com/2007/news/headlines/cup/06/17/nascar.sues.att.ap/index.html
2007-06-17 12:35:02 · update #1
oh my goodness. i know!
$100 million dollars is a lot.
personally i dont think that it is a big deal. cingular and at&t are the same company so what does it matter if they want to change a few stickers. the money is coming from the same place.
i think nascar just needs to calm down and take a chill pill over this one.
2007-06-17 14:09:51 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
NASCAR just cant handle losing in court because they think they are god. I think it will just make other sponsors have red flags come up before deciding to put all that money into sponsoring a car because of this. Whats to say after nextels agreement is up in 10 yrs that a lumber company buys the cup title and says they want Home Depot and Lowes out.
Its OK for nascar to be bought out and change the name but not another company. Oh my GOD its not like AT@T wants to come in to the sport but they are the new owners of Cingular which is happening alot in the business world now days. Piss on nascar for not protecting its existing drivers!!! What a bunch of fuking idiots they have become.
2007-06-17 13:14:06 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
This is typical Corporate greed in the works again!!! How can one corporation state who you can and can not have as a sponsor. What would Nextel do if I came to a race in a AT&T teeshirt? Thro me out? I would then have a case in court for them discriminating against me becasue of close I wear. It is ridiculous and someone needs to put a stop to it. Every day I see more and more companies trying to monopolize a certain business and it needs to quick. We as customers should be allowed to make the decision for ourselves of what company and brand to buy. This is no different. I don not care how much money Nextel is giving to NASCAR.
2007-06-17 13:09:10 · answer #3 · answered by bellslady65 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Big business is making a mockery of racing.
It is hard enough to find a sponsor now NASCAR is buckeling to the pressure of NEXTEL and the result is this lawsuit.Next will be Sunoco pressuring NASCAR to file suite against Shell.
Well my NEXTEL contract is up and tomorrow I'll be getting me a new cell phone company.
2007-06-17 16:06:30 · answer #4 · answered by blakree 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I wouldn't consider NASCAR a monopoly, since there are other racing series in the country. Monopolies aren't illegal either.
The biggest issue with the way NASCAR conducts business is the fact that the same people who control NASCAR control ISC, the company who runs most of the race tracks that NASCAR uses.
2007-06-17 13:58:17 · answer #5 · answered by Mearn 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Because nascar is one of the very few sporting companies that still does not have to answer to the Government. It's a monopoly, plan and simple. Won't be long, they will be looked at by the Feds as a monopoly and things will really change.
2007-06-17 13:20:10 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
NASCAR has to make Nextel look like is protecting their investment as a title sponsor.
2007-06-17 12:57:17 · answer #7 · answered by mAD~mOD 5 · 0⤊ 2⤋
This is so stupid who cares yay theres competition out there ya but everyone knows nextel and everyone knows at&t
2007-06-17 15:04:05 · answer #8 · answered by Chad J 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If I were AT&T, and I was being sued for trying to put money INTO the sport, I'd tell NASCAR to screw themselves and find a better market for my cash.
2007-06-17 13:25:34 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
I know it is getting really ridiculus it isn't bothering me, if i were to give any advice on Nascar about the AT&T battle my advice would to let it go
2007-06-17 12:40:46 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋