State Farm Drops Sponsorship of Penn State Football

State FarmIn the wake of the child sex-abuse scandal and the school's subsequent sanctions, State Farm Insurance has pulled its sponsorship of Penn State football, the insurance company confirmed to multiple media outlets Tuesday.

Published on July 25, 2012

State Farm non-renewing 72,000 CA policies

The Bloomington, Ill.-based company will no longer advertise at Beaver Stadium or during television and radio broadcasts of the Nittany Lions' home games.

Despite the timing, the decision was made in the middle of the 2011 football season to show support for the victims.

"It's a result of all the information that has been going on with Penn State over the last year," spokeswoman Arlene Lester told The Chicago Tribune. "The decision was based on our business needs at this time."

"It's not an image issue ... we're just doing what's right. We don't want to be a supporter of something that's not right in a community. We're about helping communities succeed and prosper."

State Farm will continue to support Penn State's other athletic teams and will not remove ads when Penn State football is the road team.

Also Tuesday: Pepsi announced that it will continue to advertise and sponsor for Penn State, releasing the following statement.

"We are deeply disturbed by the findings of the investigation and the conduct of certain individuals at Penn State University, but will continue to honor our longstanding contract as a campus provider."

Cars.com pulled its spots from ESPN broadcasts of Penn State games after the scandal broke in November but announced last month that it will return for the 2012 season. (Cars.com is a division of Classified Ventures LLC, which in turn is a joint venture of several media companies, including Gannett Co., Inc. parent company of USA TODAY.) Banking company PNC Inc. and Highmark, Inc., Pennsylvania's largest health insurer, told the Associated Press that they will remain as sponsors.