The NC Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission (ABC) "has
nixed -- at least for now -- an advertising deal to paint
the Bud Light logo on the rink" of the Raleigh Sports &
Entertainment Arena, the new home of the Hurricanes,
according to Ned Glascock of the Raleigh NEWS & OBSERVER.
The deal would have made A-B's Bud Light brand the
"exclusive beer advertiser" in the arena, but the ABC panel
"unanimously decided" Friday not to make an exception under
a "Prohibition-era" state law "outlawing alcohol-company
monopolies by strictly separating the business dealings of
manufacturers, distributors and retailers." The Hurricanes'
parent company, Gale Force Holdings, will manage the
facility, and have pledged to sell beers from all brewing
companies. Gale Force attorney Jim Cain said that the ad
deal "won't be canned just yet," as "other options will be
explored that don't require" an exemption under state law.
For example, Gale Force could "hire an independent
concessionaire," but that would "cut into" the company's
profit margins, and Cain said that the company "would sooner
sacrifice" its ad deal with A-B than "forfeit the revenues
from beer sales." Cain added that the proposed deal with A-
B would be for three years and would not be a multimillion
dollar pact (Raleigh NEWS & OBSERVER, 9/11).
