Telecommunications giant AT&T filed a motion Monday, asking that its logo be added to Jeff Burton’s #31 Chevy immediately. The motion was filed in U.S. District Court in Atlanta, where the company also filed its lawsuit against NASCAR. A hearing on the motion has not yet been scheduled. Burton is sponsored by cell phone service provider Cingular. AT&T recently took full ownership of Cingular as part of its recent merger with BellSouth and intends to eliminate the brand name. AT&T sued NASCAR on March 16 after racing series officials refused to allow AT&T to put its logo on Burton’s car because of NASCAR’s deal with Nextel, which sponsors NASCAR’s top series — the Nextel Cup. “We must bring this issue to resolution,” John Burbank, vice president of marketing for AT&T, said in a statement. “The season is well under way and so are our rebranding efforts. This filing is a logical next step for us in the process, and one we must pursue so that we can simply move forward with our paint scheme — something our agreement with NASCAR allows us to do.” AT&T officials acknowledge they agreed to a contract with Childress’ team that contains provisions saying Cingular can’t increase the size or placement of its logo on the car and can’t switch its sponsorship to another team. But they say the contract does not contain language preventing a logo change if Cingular is bought out by another company. NASCAR and Nextel officials declined comment when the lawsuit was filed. The lawsuit seeks permission to make the logo switch and damages for the “substantial harm” NASCAR has caused to the company. The lawsuit calls altering the design of the #31 car an “integral part” of the company’s brand name switch, and that NASCAR’s refusal to allow it inhibits the company’s ability to “attract new customers and retain existing ones.”(AP/ESPN.com), see past news on the AT&T lawsuit and Cingular on my #31 Team Schemes page.(3-26-2007) UPDATE – NASCAR fires back: AT&T has been pressuring NASCAR with its lawsuit over how to paint the quarter panels on Jeff Burton’s Nextel Cup #31 Chevy car as it rebrands Cingular under the AT&T logo. According to papers being filed in the suit, NASCAR officials told Stan Sigman, the president and CEO of Cingular, five weeks ago that in April 2005, George Pyne, NASCAR’s CEO at the time, told the Richard Childress-Burton team that it would not allow a change in paint scheme or logos if Cingular was bought and had its name changed. NASCAR further said that its grandfathering of Cingular – after Nextel signed on as the series sponsor – “was tied directly to the Cingular Wireless brand and not the Cingular company.” The papers further say that “it is generally not in NASCAR’s interest to limit sponsors’ participation in the sport.” NASCAR suggested that AT&T could sponsor a Busch team or a Trucks team instead, if it wished. That is precisely the route that Verizon has taken. NASCAR’s filing refers specifically to Pyne’s letter to Childress, dated April 4, 2005. It specifies that “should Cingular be acquired by a third party, the Cingular brand is continually welcome as a team sponsor. However, should the company’s name change, we will not allow any paint scheme or branding on the car promoting this new name.” The papers go on to say: “NASCAR certainly has no desire to eliminate the Cingular brand from NASCAR Nextel Cup series competition.” But, “unfortunately AT&T’s decision to purchase Cingular and then to eliminate the Cingular brand puts NASCAR in the position of having to now enforce the rights granted Nextel in the series sponsorship agreement.”(in part from the Winston Salem Journal)(3-28-2007)
