Trade
Tied-house exceptions: advertising: Counties of Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and San Diego
SB 1195 lets alcohol producers buy event-related advertising at specified major venues in Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and San Diego Counties while barring brand-preference deals.
The law expands a narrow exception to California’s tied-house restrictions without allowing suppliers to use advertising contracts to dictate what alcohol a venue sells or promotes.
What the law does
- Authorizes beer, wine, and spirits suppliers to buy advertising space or time from or for specified Long Beach, San Diego, and Ontario venues.
- Requires advertising purchases to be in writing and connected to events at the eligible venue.
- Preserves requirements that eligible retail licensees carry competing beer, wine, and spirits brands.
- Prohibits venue retail licensees from seeking agreements that require a supplier’s brand to be bought, sold, prioritized, promoted, or used to exclude competing brands.
- Prohibits alcohol suppliers from entering agreements imposing those brand-preference or competitor-exclusion requirements.
Who it affects
- Beer manufacturers, winegrowers, rectifiers, craft distillers, distilled-spirits manufacturers, and their agents.
- On-sale alcohol retailers and owners, managers, tenants, or licensees of the specified venues.
- Alcohol wholesalers that may not be coerced into fulfilling advertising-contract obligations.