The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau is scrutinizing sports sponsorships struck by bev-alc producers and distributors. How can brewers play in this space without running afoul of the government agency? McDermott Will & Emery’s Alva Mather and Nichole Shustack offer their opinions on the Brewbound Podcast.
“There’s a reason the TTB is focused on sponsorship deals at large venues,” Mather, the head of McDermott Will & Emery’s Alcohol Regulatory & Distribution Group, said. “I don’t have a crystal ball, but I will tell you from where I sit that is absolutely going to continue to be an area of focus for them.”
Shustack, legal counsel with McDermott Will & Emery, added that suppliers and wholesalers really should be wary of “pouring rights.”
“So there’s pouring rights and then there’s advertising rights,” she explained. “And where we’re seeing suppliers and wholesalers get tripped up is when those two kind of cross over.”
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