By Suzanne Vranica
Several sponsors of the Los Angeles Clippers, including Kia
Motors, Aquahydrate, CarMax and State Farm Insurance, distanced
themselves from the National Basketball Association team on Monday
in the wake of reports about racially insensitive comments
allegedly made by Clippers owner Donald Sterling.
Used-car dealer CarMax said Monday it would end its nine-year
sponsorship of the team, saying it "finds the statements attributed
to the Clippers' owner completely unacceptable." The statements
"necessitate that CarMax end its sponsorship."
Meanwhile, Kia Motors America said it was "suspending" its
"advertising and sponsorship activations with the Clippers."
"The comments allegedly made by Clippers owner, Donald Sterling,
are offensive and reprehensible, and they are inconsistent with our
views and values," the car company said.
A Clippers spokesman on Monday declined to comment or to make
Mr. Sterling available.
Kia said it was working with its media-buying agency and the
networks to pull its ads off of both national and local games. It
was also removing its in-arena ads, the company said.
Kia has had a relationship with the Clippers for the last six
years. The company said the situation doesn't affect its
relationship with Clippers star Blake Griffin, who appears in some
of its ads.
At the same time, some advertisers have asked Time Warner Inc.'s
Turner Broadcasting, whose TNT network is airing some of the NBA
playoffs, to move their commercials out of the Clippers game on
Tuesday night, according to people familiar with the matter. Those
TV spots will be reallocated to air during other NBA games, so
Turner won't take a financial hit, the people said.
Some advertisers have made similar requests of Prime Ticket, a
Los Angeles-area sports channel owned by 21st Century Fox that airs
some Clippers playoff games, a person familiar with the matter
said. Prime Ticket is exploring various options, including moving
those advertisers' spots to run during other sports games on its
sister network, Fox Sports West. The commercials on Prime Ticket
would likely be replaced by promotions for Fox programming, the
person said. (21st Century Fox and Wall Street Journal-owner News
Corp were part of the same company until last year.)
Earlier Monday another sponsor, State Farm Insurance, said it
was "taking a pause" in its relationship with the team. The company
said it "strongly supports and respects diversity and inclusion in
its workforce and customers." It added that the remarks attributed
to the Clippers' owner "are offensive."
"We are monitoring the situation and we'll continually assess
our options," the statement continued.
State Farm separately said that it has "a great relationship
with [Clippers player] Chris Paul and will continue supporting the
Born to Assist advertising campaign involving Chris and now other
NBA players."
Aquahydrate, a Southern California health and fitness water
company, also said it would "suspended its sponsorship" agreement
with the team" until the NBA completes its investigation. The water
company has sponsored the team for the past two seasons using
social-media channels. It also was the exclusive water provider for
the Clippers.
Over the weekend an audiotape emerged allegedly featuring Mr.
Sterling making repeated racially charged statements to a woman. In
the tape, a man identified as Mr. Sterling by gossip site TMZ is
allegedly heard chastising the woman for appearing in public with
basketball great Magic Johnson, followed by a request that she not
publicly associate with any black people. The man also pleads with
her not to bring black people to games.
Amtrak--which was a sponsor of the Clippers until just a few
weeks ago, when the NBA regular season concluded--said on Monday it
was "diligently working to remove all sponsorship assets" that
remain in the market.
"Amtrak believes the language used is unacceptable and is
inconsistent with our corporate belief to treat everyone with
integrity and dignity," the rail line said.
Anheuser-Busch, a major sponsor of the National Basketball
Association, issued a statement saying it was "disappointed" to
hear about Mr. Sterling's alleged comments. Anheuser-Busch said it
supports the NBA's efforts to investigate and trusts "that they
will take appropriate action."
Advertisers commonly will retreat from association with a sports
personality or team at even a hint of controversy. "There is a very
long track record of brands reacting this way in the face of
various controversies," said says Kevin Adler, founder and
president of Engage Marketing, a Chicago sports and entertainment
marketing firm.
Sharon Terlep and Amol Sharma contributed to this article
Write to Suzanne Vranica at suzanne.vranica@wsj.com
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