KISS_Racing Posted May 18, 2007 Report Share Posted May 18, 2007 I can't post a link since it is an inter-company email. But the federal courts have granted AT&T and RCR a temporary approval to have AT&T on the RCR #31 car. I can post a picture... Not much different than Cingular Car: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
REBELRACER Posted May 18, 2007 Report Share Posted May 18, 2007 (edited) interoffice memo from nascar.com............hahaha Judge rules AT&T can change branding of No. 31 By Harry Weber, The Associated Press May 18, 2007 03:48 PM EDT type size: + -ATLANTA -- NASCAR can't stop AT&T Inc. from featuring its logo on Jeff Burton's No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, a federal judge ruled Friday. U.S. District Court Judge Marvin Shoob in Atlanta issued a preliminary injunction barring NASCAR and any entity affiliated with it from interfering with AT&T's rights as primary sponsor of the car in NASCAR Cup Series races. NASCAR tried to prevent the Cingular logo from being changed to the AT&T logo on Burton's car. AT&T is the sole owner of Cingular and is rebranding the cell phone company's name to AT&T. Sprint Nextel Corp. sponsors NASCAR's premier series, the Nextel Cup, and has exclusive rights as the telecommunications company for the series. Attorneys argued the only exceptions are companies, including Cingular, that already sponsored cars when Nextel reached its agreement with NASCAR. San Antonio-based AT&T became the full owner of Atlanta-based Cingular when it completed its purchase of Atlanta-based BellSouth Corp. in December. Cingular argued that its rights included changing its brand name to AT&T. In his ruling, Shoob said, "The court concludes that the continued appearance of the Cingular brand on the No. 31 car, unaccompanied by any indication that Cingular now does business as AT&T, is likely to confuse NASCAR fans.'' Shoob also concluded that AT&T has shown it will suffer irreparable harm in the form of loss of goodwill and loss of exclusive rights to renew its sponsorship agreement unless the court issues the injunction. NASCAR had argued that AT&T would be welcome to sponsor a car in NASCAR's Busch series or truck racing, but that Nextel was entitled to exclusivity through its 10-year, $700 million investment that began in 2004. It also said it could be sued by Sprint Nextel if the court granted the injunction in favor of AT&T. "Regardless of whether Sprint Nextel could or may bring suit against NASCAR, the court finds that the threat of such a suit does not outweigh the actual and imminent irreparable harm the plaintiff will suffer if the court does not issue an injunction,'' Shoob said in his ruling. Attorneys for NASCAR and Sprint Nextel did not immediately return calls asking for comment. NASCAR did release a statement following the ruling. "NASCAR is disappointed with today's ruling but will continue to provide a sponsor friendly environment for the industry and its partners," NASCAR said in a statement. "NASCAR is currently weighing any and all options for appeal of today's decision. Meanwhile, NASCAR will continue to protect the industry from actions designed to interrupt a business model which has been beneficial to all. "It is important to understand that Sprint Nextel is a cornerstone sponsor that benefits the entire industry by way of its contribution to the championship point's fund, technology bringing fans closer to the sport, and its massive marketing and advertising campaigns." In a statement, AT&T said it was pleased with the ruling. "We look forward to the debut of the new paint scheme and to directing our focus back to the action on the track and to Jeff Burton's fantastic start to the 2007 season,'' said John Burbank, AT&T vice president of marketing. The No. 31 car has been sponsored by Cingular Wireless LLC since 2001. Cingular had been a joint venture of AT&T and BellSouth before AT&T purchased BellSouth. According to AT&T, earlier this year NASCAR rejected a transitional plan to change the paint scheme and introduce the AT&T logo on Burton's car. AT&T later filed suit against NASCAR. Edited May 18, 2007 by REBELRACER Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KISS_Racing Posted May 18, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 18, 2007 (edited) Saved me the trouble of looking for it... If it says confidential I don't send it... Almost forgot, it is interesting that NASCAR stated: "It is important to understand that Sprint Nextel is a cornerstone sponsor that benefits the entire industry by way of its contribution to the championship point's fund, technology bringing fans closer to the sport, and its massive marketing and advertising campaigns." Cingular is the one who does all the TEXTING contests... Hummmmmmmmm! Edited May 18, 2007 by KISS_Racing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAPA Posted May 18, 2007 Report Share Posted May 18, 2007 Ive got a feeling that NASCAR will win the appeal. They have way to much power. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted May 18, 2007 Report Share Posted May 18, 2007 NASCAR has more power than ATT? Yea right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KISS_Racing Posted May 18, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 18, 2007 PAPA, or AT&T could end up owning NASCAR... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uhcougs Posted May 18, 2007 Report Share Posted May 18, 2007 The deal with the networks is totally seperate from NASCAR. I've always tried to figure out how that works myself..... It seems the networks can do whatever they want on the air because they arent under the imediate control of NASCAR. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebelracewriter Posted May 19, 2007 Report Share Posted May 19, 2007 .....and NA$CAR is crying like a baby!! Tough twinkie!! Someone finally had the huevo's to stand up to the almighty one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KISS_Racing Posted May 19, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2007 Reb, The lawyers have been working some major OT on this... It isn't over! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebelracewriter Posted May 19, 2007 Report Share Posted May 19, 2007 I can believe that.........money hungry @#$%^&*&^ Glad I don't have phone service with either, I can see a rate hike coming already. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boerneracehounds50 Posted May 19, 2007 Report Share Posted May 19, 2007 (edited) Nextel must be mighty affraid of its competition, AT&T will win this suit, so I can wear all the AT&T RACING appearal I can, wooooo hooooo go AT&T, dont know why I'm partial to AT&T,lol,lol Edited May 19, 2007 by Boerneracehounds50 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KISS_Racing Posted May 19, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2007 dont know why I'm partial to AT&T,lol,lol Me either! To be honest I'm glad we can now use AT&T on the car. But I do understand the business side from Nextel's prospective.... Cingular was grandfathered in ONE time when they(Southwestern Bell)bought Bell Suth Mobility(and merged PAC Bell and a few others), thus becoming Cingular. But the grandfather again was a one time deal... Oh well, there goes my bonus up in smoke to lawyers fees... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelyd13 Posted May 19, 2007 Report Share Posted May 19, 2007 Give it time and it will be the AT&T Cup Series!!! Whoo hoooo.......Mark if you haven't already purchased the employee discount to one of the races in the past you need to in November. Talk about a setup!! NASCAR will not win against AT&T.....who does??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rookie49 Posted May 20, 2007 Report Share Posted May 20, 2007 dont know why I'm partial to AT&T,lol,lol Me either! To be honest I'm glad we can now use AT&T on the car. But I do understand the business side from Nextel's prospective.... Cingular was grandfathered in ONE time when they(Southwestern Bell)bought Bell Suth Mobility(and merged PAC Bell and a few others), thus becoming Cingular. But the grandfather again was a one time deal... Oh well, there goes my bonus up in smoke to lawyers fees... As long as it is the original contract its not a grandfather issue. They bought cingular, they bought all cingular's contracts. Now if the roles were reversed AT&T would be fighting just as hard as Nextel is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budman Posted May 20, 2007 Report Share Posted May 20, 2007 Just Curious. What ever happened with the old MCI anti-trust suit that busted up AT&T into all those separate companies? Now is seems they're all being bought up again by AT&T and we're right back where we started. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
REBELRACER Posted May 20, 2007 Report Share Posted May 20, 2007 na$car will get their way and the at&t paint job will be just another special paint scheme for the winston......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KISS_Racing Posted May 20, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2007 As long as it is the original contract its not a grandfather issue. They bought cingular, they bought all cingular's contracts. Now if the roles were reversed AT&T would be fighting just as hard as Nextel is. The AT&T name was done as brand recognition. It is still Southwestern Bell as a company. Southwestern Bell bought AT&T wireless first which became Cingular then Southwestern Bell bought AT&T. Now all intities are AT&T. On the MCI deal, before MCI went belly up; they owe Southwestern Bell tons of money. Kind of interesting how that whole thing panned out... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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