As bad as this sounds (and is for the smaller distillers who will be excluded), it's not quite as bad as german beer being banned from World Cup stadiums in Germany because of Budweiser's sponsorship of the 2006 Word Cup.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/...n1754277.shtml

Moral of the story:
You might think these events (gatherings, tournaments, games, festivals) are for the attendees, but they really are all about the sponsors.