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Racer Jeff Burton's car underwent a major makeover, trading all Cingular logos for AT&T ones. |
But why all the controversy?
"NASCAR has tried to prevent the Cingular logo from being changed to the AT&T logo on Burton's car because AT&T-rival Sprint Nextel Corp. sponsors NASCAR's premier series, the Nextel Cup, and has exclusive rights as the telecommunications company for the series," says an article on law.com.
Since 2001, Cingular has been a sponsor of NASCAR. But AT&T, after buying out Cingular, made an effort to eradicate all Cingular logos, "whether on stores or in advertising or through sponsorships," continues the article. However, NASCAR didn't go for it. Not with AT&T's rival being the racing organization's top sponsor.
According to an article on ajc.com, "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."
So AT&T fought back. In March, the company filed a lawsuit against NASCAR and won. Burton's car underwent a major makeover, trading all Cingular logos for AT&T ones. "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," along with a renewed sponsorship that would last until 2010, says ajc.com.
However, after Monday's ruling, it was NASCAR's turn to take the prize.
"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," continues the article.
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