Multiple advertisers are backing away from the Clippers organization because of the racist remarks made by owner Donald Sterling. Such sponsors such as used car seller CarMax, State Farm Insurance, Kia Motors America, airline Virgin America, P. Diddy's water brand, AQUAHydrate, and Red Bull are backing away.
AQUAHydrate went on Twitter and posted a tweet saying:
"In the wake of Sterling's alleged intolerable comments we are suspending our Clippers sponsorship until the NBA completes its investigation."
The company issued a statement saying:
"In the wake of Donald Sterling's alleged defamatory and intolerable comments we have decided to suspend our sponsorship with the L.A.. Clippers until the NBA completes its investigation. We fully support the players and fans of the L.A.. Clippers and wish them the best in the remainder of the playoffs."
An Amtrak spokesperson told USA TODAY Sports the company is working to remove any remnants of a sponsorship agreement it had with the Clippers that expired at the end of the regular season.
"Amtrak believes the language used is unacceptable and is inconsistent with our corporate belief to treat everyone with integrity and dignity," the company said in a statement. "As with any sponsorship advertising, some assets remain in market – to that end we are diligently working to remove all sponsorship assets."
"Moving forward, we will continue to monitor the situation as we look to make decisions about 2014-15 sports marketing sponsorships."
Anheuser-Busch released this statement:
"As the official beer of the NBA, we are disappointed to hear the alleged recent comments attributed to L.A.. Clippers owner Donald Sterling. While Anheuser-Busch and Bud Light are not team sponsors of the L.A.. Clippers, we fully support the NBA's efforts to investigate quickly and trust that they will take appropriate action."
Red Bull is pulling its Clippers support while still sponsoring Blake Griffin.
"We trust and respect the NBA's process to formally investigate the matter, and in the interim, are suspending all team-related marketing activities," the company said in a statement supplied to USA TODAY Sports. "We will continue to support our Red Bull athlete, Blake Griffin, his teammates and coaching staff in their pursuit of an NBA title.
The league can't fire Sterling but can force him into a leave of absence. Most agree that's the best choice for the team and the fans. If one is a Clippers fan, race doesn't matter. Just show up to the game. If you show up, though, there's some facet in that, you are helping Sterling get more money. Better if you boycott and protest? Possibly so. This also might affect the players too. Who knows how this will affect the team as a whole while they play against the Golden State Warriors. We wouldn't be surprised if some players after the season ask for a trade.
