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©1999 SpeedCenter Publishing to drop brand name Montreal, Quebec, March 18, 1999 - Player's Ltd. announced today that it would use its racing logo without the Player's brand name for the CART event to be held in Miami from March 19th to 21st. This decision stems from concerns regarding the Master Settlement Agreement entered into by Attorneys-General for 46 states and six territories, and the major American tobacco manufacturers, including Philip Morris USA. This agreement restricts, among other things, sponsorship by a tobacco company to one field per brand. Philip Morris USA owns the rights to the use of the name Player's in the United States and has decided to terminate its license agreement with Player's Ltd. "Basically, we are obliged to remove our brand name because it is owned by Philip Morris in the United States, which already uses the Marlboro name for its sponsorship activities in the field of auto racing with Team Penske", said Jean-Paul Blais, president of Player's Ltd. The US agreement does not apply to races held in Canada (Toronto and Vancouver) or international events (Japan, Brazil and Australia), where Player's will continue to showcase its trademark on cars, racing equipment and team clothing. "We will continue to talk with Philip Morris to see if we can reach a compromise, but I am confident that the Player's CART Team will find a way to make itself visible this weekend with a strong performance in the season opener at Homestead," added Blais. The Player's CART Team fields two entries in the FedEx Championship Series for Canadian drivers Greg Moore and Patrick Carpentier. Source: Players Racing Team |
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