what we were talking about is how nextel after being aquired by sprint is becoming sprint.... and that is ok with na$car... while at&t has aquired singular.. which around here was cellular one before that... and altell is about to become something else.. I would have to reread what they are about to be... but, why is it ok for sprint to do it and not allow at&t to change.. seems like we need anti monopoly laws in na$car!... no I cannot think of any at&t cars but I think there was a Bell south car.. they became at&t didn't they? joe nemecheck I think drive it.. busch car?.. or cup or was it both... thinking it was both...
Nextel is paying hundreds of millions of dollars in order to have an exclusive contract with Nascar, the same way RJ Reynolds did for years. They grandfathered in Cingular and Alltell because they were already sponsoring cars. AT&T is not Cingular, it is not just about a name change it is an entire different company trying to crash Nextels party.
Nextel can do whatever they want as they are the ones paying the bills and they are the ones that have the exclusive contract with NASCAR.
I for one am thankful there are companies such as RJ Reynolds and Nextel out there willing to foot the bill for NASCAR otherwise NASCAR would not be where they are today.
Nextel is paying hundreds of millions of dollars in order to have an exclusive contract with Nascar, the same way RJ Reynolds did for years. They grandfathered in Cingular and Alltell because they were already sponsoring cars. AT&T is not Cingular, it is not just about a name change it is an entire different company trying to crash Nextels party.
Nextel can do whatever they want as they are the ones paying the bills and they are the ones that have the exclusive contract with NASCAR.
I for one am thankful there are companies such as RJ Reynolds and Nextel out there willing to foot the bill for NASCAR otherwise NASCAR would not be where they are today.
dude... it is about opinions... glad you have one... I just feel sprint taking over nextel falls into the same catagory... I am a happy nextel customer... I had cingular... they were ok, then coverage dropped off near my home and on several roads I frequently travel... and they told me i needed to shut my phone off and let it update... several times... finally the idiots had to admit that they had no coverage in my area anymore due to tower issues... the service interruptions were bad enough, but for them to flat out lie to me kinda Pees me off.. and I root for rcr.. and jeff burton as my #2 guy... but I won't have any other cell service but nextel.. when you sponsor and american tradition like na$car.. they want to expand... if you want to bring in new sponsors you cannot keep locking the door with exclusive sponsors of.... or you will be stuck with one beer car... one auto manufacuter, one phone car..etc.... racing is about rivalries ... who is gonna win, outdrive the other... IMO we need multiple sponsors of each type just to keep things interesting... coke vs pepsi, chevy vs ford, cingular vs altel , bud vs miller, otherwise it just doesn't give you much choice... no one to root for or against... I think it is not a good thing to exclude sponsors because of big business or tv markets... that is not what started racing, nor is it what nascar was founded on... I see your point as a business and law is concerned, just not the right thing to do in my opinion.
__________________ Rome did not create a Great Empire by having meetings--- They did it by killing all people who opposed them!
racing is about rivalries ... who is gonna win, outdrive the other... IMO we need multiple sponsors of each type just to keep things interesting... coke vs pepsi, chevy vs ford, cingular vs altel , bud vs miller, otherwise it just doesn't give you much choice... no one to root for or against... I think it is not a good thing to exclude sponsors because of big business or tv markets... that is not what started racing, nor is it what nascar was founded on... I see your point as a business and law is concerned, just not the right thing to do in my opinion.
Wow, we gotta get you a chair at the NASCAR table, just promise to speak your mind.
I agree NASCAR really needs to keep their eyes on what makes raceing interesting/exciting and FUN to watch. BigE nailed it...RIVALRIES
Chevy vs Ford vs Toyota vs Dodge vs whoever else wants to show up.
And who can forget?
Petty vs Pearson
Yarbrough vs the Allisons
Petty vs Bobby Allison
Waltrip vs Yarbrough
Earnhardt vs Bodine and later J Gordon
just to name a few of my favorites.
__________________ If You Wont Stand Behind OUR TROOPS please feel free to stand in front of them
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This is a huge issue for the future of NASCAR. It risks lowering the value of its' primary sponsorship by quite a bit, and it raises other issues in terms of how they can deal with sponsors in good faith when negotiating.
The BIGGEST problem I have with this situation is that, in all of this cases, terms were agreed to already with the 'violating' parties.
Take the Shell/Penzoil car. Sunoco had serious issues with other gas companies entering NASCAR as sponsors. They paid a large sum in their contract with NASCAR to be the official gas sponsor. They negotiated that contract in good faith.
RCR and Shell-Penzoil came in and said "don't worry we are a motor oil company, we are going to promote motor oil, so it won't interfere with the agreement already in place.
So what do we get? You can barely see the Penzoil on Harvicks car, and there is a HUGE Shell logo. His racing gear, including the front of his hat .. all Shell logos. 30 Commercial spots during the NASCAR broadcasts promoting ... Shell gasoline.
They flat lied, and circumvented a good faith contract. I don't blame Sunoco or NASCAR for feeling they were wronged, or that damages are in order.
In the case of the AT&T:
They tried to get in on car sponsorship on their own. Alltel was grandfathered in, so that is a different case; their rights were included in Nextels contract. AT&T, however, was denied entry. Nextel had a good faith agreement that, as the title sponsor, they have a right to expect to be upheld.
So then AT&T buys Cingular. AT&T is told at the time that they borkered their deal with Cingular that they wouldn't be able to switch title sponsorship of their NEXTEL ride. They say "hey, ok, we wouldn't do that. We know where you stand". They buy Cingular, then a little while later sue to get their logo switched. Effectively stripping NASCAR of its' authority to negotiate in good faith with sponsors, and lowering the value they can expect.
NASCAR is NOT hurting for large, wealthy companies that want to get into the sponsorship rotation, especially not when it comes to top owners with competitive teams like RCR. Certainly not hurting enough that jeopardizing the strength of NASCAR as a business should be an option.
Burton, Childress, and others involved have said they are helping NASCAR, because every big sponsor brought in is a boon. NO NO NO.
They are flat lying and they know it. Because whatever amount of money brought in by their sponsor, it is FAR outweighed by the consequences of battering NASCAR's ability to negotiate in good faith will ALL sponsors in the future. Believe me, every sponsor associated with NASCAR has taken note of these issues.
In my mind RCR is totally complicit in what has happened. Why not take on VISA? Or one of the myriad other big companies that want to get in the game? He is directly responsible for both the teams that took on sponsors that broke contracts already agreed to.
The BIGGEST problem I have with this situation is that, in all of this cases, terms were agreed to already with the 'violating' parties.
NASCAR is NOT hurting for large, wealthy companies that want to get into the sponsorship rotation, especially not when it comes to top owners with competitive teams like RCR. Certainly not hurting enough that jeopardizing the strength of NASCAR as a business should be an option.
Burton, Childress, and others involved have said they are helping NASCAR, because every big sponsor brought in is a boon. NO NO NO.
They are flat lying and they know it. Because whatever amount of money brought in by their sponsor, it is FAR outweighed by the consequences of battering NASCAR's ability to negotiate in good faith will ALL sponsors in the future. Believe me, every sponsor associated with NASCAR has taken note of these issues.
In my mind RCR is totally complicit in what has happened. Why not take on VISA? Or one of the myriad other big companies that want to get in the game? He is directly responsible for both the teams that took on sponsors that broke contracts already agreed to.
Whoa Whoa Whooooaaaa!!!
RCR did not sign a contract with Nextel/Sprint NASCAR did therin lies the problem NASCAR/Sprint/Nextel signed a contract trying to control things that they cannot control and was not explicit enough to cover all the possible ramifacations.
NASCAR cannot Legaly tell Independently Owned teams who they can or cannot sign as sponsors. In the past teams have worked with NASCAR to make NASCAR Happy however the need for $$$$$$$ has now surpased the need to please NASCAR and Legal battles are coming.
In my opinion NASCAR as a Sanctioning Body has the rights to inforce its Racing Rules but not sponsorship issues between Independent Teams and their sponsors. I also beleive alot of Lawyers are about to make ALOT of $$$$$$$.
__________________ If You Wont Stand Behind OUR TROOPS please feel free to stand in front of them
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RCR did not sign a contract with Nextel/Sprint NASCAR did therin lies the problem NASCAR/Sprint/Nextel signed a contract trying to control things that they cannot control and was not explicit enough to cover all the possible ramifacations.
I am sorry, but you are incorrect. NASCAR can do whatever it pleases in terms of who sponsors what. The teams sign annual contracts with NASCAR every year spelling this out.
Here is some good information about the case. The way I see it the only way for AT&T to get into NASCAR was for them to break the origional contract that Cingular had with NASCAR (illegal) and then sue their way in.
From
insiderracingnews.com
"Through discussions, the parties agreed to allow the existing sponsorships to continue—and even be extended—provided that “the sponsor” remains with the same car, and does not increase “its position” on the car (meaning that if the sponsor is a secondary sponsor, it cannot become a primary sponsor).
After these discussions, Nextel’s sponsorship of the Cup series was finalized, including an exclusivity agreement wherein Nextel was named exclusive wireless communications sponsor of the Cup series beginning in 2004 and NASCAR agreed to forbid any sponsorship participation by Nextel’s competitors, which were listed by name in the exclusivity agreement and included Cingular, Alltel, AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, etc. The NASCAR/Nextel agreement noted that it was subject to a grandfather agreement that would be executed between NASCAR and its race teams with existing wireless sponsors, and provided that Nextel recognized that existing agreements between teams and “sponsors” would be allowed to continue.
NASCAR isn’t a party to raceteams’ sponsorship contracts, but NASCAR requires car owners and drivers to sign annual “Driver and Car Owner" agreements.” The grandfather agreement between NASCAR and the teams with existing wireless sponsorships was incorporated into the Driver and Car Owner agreements beginning in 2004. It provided an exception to the Nextel exclusivity agreement that was entirely phrased in terms of “existing product licensing relationships” and allows “the sponsor” to remain as long as the sponsor stayed with the same car and did not improve its position on the car. NASCAR also alleges that it told Cingular and RCR that “third-parties” would not be allowed to join the sponsorship by buying Cingular. There is some debate over what was actually said.
The annual Driver and Car Owner agreements also clearly provide that all sponsorship activity is subject to NASCAR’s rule book, which gives NASCAR broad discretion to regulate the sport, and expressly includes NASCAR’s right to govern what advertising and paint schemes are allowed on the track. NASCAR makes all drivers, owners and sponsors annually agree to be bound by the NASCAR rule book. This included Cingular, which also agreed to be bound by NASCAR’s rules."
Allegedly 
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