Although state attorneys general and anti-smoking
groups reached a $368.5B settlement on Friday with tobacco
companies, members of Congress "agreed that any deal that
eventually wins their approval will require a mountain of
legislative and bureaucratic changes," according to Jerry
Gray of the N.Y. TIMES. U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ):
"I don't expect Congress to rubber-stamp it. There are
devils in the agreement that we will have to get out of
there" (N.Y. TIMES, 6/21). The TIMES' John Broder reports
that the deal, which would ban tobacco companies from
sponsoring sporting events, "faces enormous obstacles,
including the opposition of influential members of Congress.
... [D]ebating and approving the deal will take months at a
minimum" (N.Y. TIMES, 6/21). The settlement also "helps
compensate teams or events that can't recoup lost tobacco
sponsorship dollars" (Meyers & Clarke, USA TODAY, 6/23).
IMPACT ON AUTO RACING: NASCAR issued a statement on
Friday regarding the settlement: "NASCAR racing has been in
existence for nearly 50 years, long before tobacco companies
became actively involved in the sport" (NASCAR). R.J.
Reynolds reportedly puts $25-30M into motorsports ads and
sponsorships (DESERET NEWS, 6/21). T. Wayne Robertson,
President of Sports Marketing for R.J. Reynolds: "We do
intend, without question, to honor the spirit of the
agreement that we reached as an industry. ... If legally we
can't do this anymore, then we won't be doing it" (FT. WORTH
STAR-TELEGRAM, 6/21). Brian France, NASCAR VP/Marketing &
Communications, on the impact of the potential loss of R.J.
Reynolds' sponsorship: "It's disappointing that we have a
sponsor that has really contributed to the overall success
of the sport. ... But it doesn't mean that the sport is
turning south. It just means that we are going to have to
regroup and go another way" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 6/21).
WHO'S GOT NEXT? USA TODAY's Meyers & Clarke write that
tobacco companies "provide only about 20% of sponsorship
money for motor sports," and NASCAR sponsors McDonald's,
Coca-Cola and Kodak "could take up the slack" if tobacco
sponsorship is banned (USA TODAY, 6/23). In Richmond, Ben
Blake: "[M]ajor companies are lined up at the door should
R.J. Reynolds fall" (RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH, 6/21). In
L.A., Bill Schlotter: "While the loss of tobacco money will
challenge [NASCAR] most insiders don't think it would hurt
it" (L.A. DAILY NEWS, 6/21). CNN/SI's Ed Hinton: "There is
feeling that Winston withdrawing could help the sport more
than hurt. Bringing in new and far less controversial
sponsorship should be easy for NASCAR. The word I'm getting
... is that NASCAR will go through a formal display of
gratitude for 27 years of RJR funding, while informally
preparing to move on" (CNN/SI, 6/20). In Dallas, Richard
Alm wrote that four CART racing teams "depend on tobacco
money" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 6/21).
