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Nikolas Giakoumidis/AP Photo1 of 10
by Brett Smiley
You can't spell NASCAR without NRA, and now it's official as the National Rifle Association will sponsor a high profile Sprint Cup race at the Texas Motor Speedway on April 13 in Fort Worth, Texas. As you might imagine, some citizens and politicians are up in arms about the marriage between the stock car racing league and the controversial pro-gun organization, which has been publicly flogged after a spate of mass shootings in the U.S.
But NASCAR and the NRA aren't the first sports league and organization to become targets of intense criticism over a sponsorship agreement. Take a look through 10 highly controversial sports sponsorships.
A brothel and a soccer team
It's the oldest profession in the world, legal in some countries, tolerated in others, loathed by many, patronized by enough. Prostitution is legal in Greece where a couple soccer clubs hard on cash resorted to getting sponsorship from brothels to make ends meet. One squad ended up in pink practice jerseys with the logos "Villa Erotica."
League organizers were none too thrilled and tried to block players from sporting the logos during the game, calling it inappropriate. Who knew that prostitution could save men from bankruptcy?
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Darren England/Getty Images2 of 10
Say no to alcohol
No big deal here in the U.S. where Anheuser-Busch owns the St. Louis Cardinals, the Rockies play in a bandbox known as Coors Field, and Bud Light remains one of only a couple advertisers to produce consistently funny spots for the Super Bowl.
Not so in Australia where a senator is seeking to have the Australian Football League cut ties with the alcohol industry that he said was a "much, much bigger problem than illicit drug use in the community." There's some movement in that direction already owing to governmental incentives for sports leagues that seek advertisers outside in the booze business.
But according to The Age, AFL and cricket still have big deals with Australia's major brewers. Sounds like everyone just needs to hash everything out over a few beers.
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Serena Taylor/Newcastle United via Getty Images3 of 10
Thou shalt (probably) not play for a club backed by a loan shark
At the end of 2012, Britain's Muslim Council warned that Newcastle United's soccer players (four of which are Muslim) might be violating Sharia law by wearing the logo of a new sponsor -- a loan sharking company named Wonga.
Problem is, a Muslim may not benefit from lending or receiving money, or collecting an outrageous amount of interest on a short-term loan, as Wonga does. Despite the threat of boycott and public outcry, the sponsorship survived. "It's a sad indictment of the profit-at-any-price culture at Newcastle United," said Newcastle City Council Labor leader Nick Forbes.
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Tom Pennington/Getty Images for Texas Motor Speedway4 of 10
Showdown at the NASCAR corral
"We are never a political organization," said NASCAR chairman Brian France before the Daytona 500. "People are entitled to their own opinions. We will let them have their debate." And debate they will have over stricter gun laws and a prominent sports league getting in bed with the face of gun ownership in America at a sensitive time.
Last week Connecticut senator Chris Murphy called upon NASCAR to break off its arrangement to have the NRA sponsor a Sprint Cup Series race, saying, "Whether or not this was [NASCAR's] intention, your fans will infer from this sponsorship that NASCAR and the NRA are allies in the current legislative debate over gun violence."
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Thinkstock5 of 10
Guns for Kids
To benefit kids, that is. Organizers of a recent Illinois town little league fund-raiser decided that typical prizes they'd raffled off before wouldn't make enough of a splash, so they got help from a local armory that's donated guns before for various charity auctions. "We could have went with a basic shotgun or something simple," said league commissioner Steven McClain.
"But obviously it's not going to draw the attention, not going to draw the volume we're hoping to make." So they're using an AR-15 (the kind used in Newtown) that comes with a 30-round magazine. To paraphrase James Earl Jones from "Field of Dreams": If you stir the pot, donations will come.
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Hannah Johnston/Getty Images6 of 10
America's Team(s)
Not the figurative, Jerry Jones-branded version known as the Dallas Cowboys, but Manchester United of the English Premier League, the most valuable sports franchise in the entire world that from 2006-2010 was sponsored by AIG (American International Group).
You know, the AIG that was bailed out by U.S. taxpayers several times in 2008 and 2009, when Manchester United players wore the letters across their chests. AIG has since preyed upon another classic and cash-strapped organization, New Zealand's All Blacks rugby team -- whose jersey used to be ... all black.
We'll let a sad fan take it away: "It is so disappointing to see the NZRU choose such an unworthy company to partner with and even worse, give ownership of the black jersey by splashing their tainted brand over where the heart once beat."
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Jasper Juinen/Getty Images7 of 10
Don't bet on it
This situation followed the similar arc as the loan sharking company, only a few years earlier when Malian soccer player Frédéric Kanouté, a practicing Muslim, refused to wear the 888.com logo of the gambling website because of his religious beliefs. The sponsor agreed to let him wear an unbranded shirt during games but he had to wear it on his training equipment. We talkin' about practice?!
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Clive Brunskill/Getty Images8 of 10
And don't corrupt the kids...
Another betting website caused widespread outrage in 2009 but not on the basis of religious beliefs. The gambling website 188Bet.com began a shirt sponsorship with the Bolton Wanderers of the Professional Footballers' Association and according to the UK Independent, "It became apparent that the gambling company was offering live betting on academy/youth games." Yikes. Gordon Taylor, head of the PFA, said "It is making our youngsters vulnerable, without a shadow of a doubt...Youngsters and gambling is a bad mix, and an unhealthy one."
That's got to be a tough enterprise though because it's hard enough to get some kids to tie their shoes, let alone participate in a point shaving scheme.
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A. Messerschmidt/Getty Images9 of 10
Up in smoke
For starters, the U.S. government banned cigarette ads from television in 1971. About 40 years later in 2010, the Food and Drug Administration began to enforce new rules preventing cigarette and smokeless tobacco sponsorships in sporting events.
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (makers of Joe Camel) left as a title sponsor for NASCAR in 2003 (Winston Cup Series) but the FDA regulations forced teams sponsored by smokeless tobacco makers - Red Man and Longhorn - to rush for new backers. No easy task as even Dale Earnhardt Jr. lacked some sponsorship for the current season as of late February this year.
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Leon Halip/Getty Images10 of 10Next: The Most Hilarious Sports Photos
Glutton for sponsorship
Yes, even fast foods joints have been scrutinized for potentially polluting the minds (and perhaps bodies) of youths via sports sponsorships. "There is potential for children to become confused if healthy lifestyle messages or imagery are promoted by the marketers of unhealthy products," wrote professors at The University of Western Australia in a paper for the journal Public Health Nutrition.
"While sponsors may argue that they are not intentionally targeting children, it is clear that their efforts are producing this 'unintended' consequence and that as a result they should come under closer scrutiny." It appears the professors have no qualms about putting Mr. Ronald McDonald out of work.
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