The maker of Jack Daniel's whiskey has dropped its long-running sponsorship of Alaska's Iditarod sled race, the company said Wednesday.
The move by Louisville, Kentucky-based Brown-Forman followed a tough year for organizers of the 1,000-mile (1,610 kilometer) Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race who have faced financial hardships, the loss of other sponsors and its first-ever dog doping scandal.
Jack Daniel's decided to go a different direction by shifting most of its marketing efforts to a partnership with the National Basketball Association, company spokesman Svend Jansen said in a statement.
He said a campaign against the Iditarod by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals had nothing to do with the decision, which will affect the 2019 race in March.
"As a sponsor of The Iditarod for 15 years we have been particularly impressed with the utmost care in which the animals are treated by the race veterinarians, the dog sled teams and everyone associated with this event," Jansen wrote in a follow-up email to The Associated Press.
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