LA Clippers lose almost all sponsors over owner Donald Sterling's alleged racist comments

LA Clippers Donald Sterling

The fallout continues and gets worse for LA Clippers owner Donald Sterling as his corporate sponsors are now fleeing the ship quickly. From ESPN:

The Chumash Casino, the presenting sponsor of the Los Angeles Clippers, jumped ship Monday along with used car dealership chain CarMax and airline Virgin America as advertisers pondered their partnerships with the team in the wake of racist remarks allegedly made by owner Donald Sterling.

Virgin America said in a statement that it was cutting ties with the team "while we continue to support the fans and the players." State Farm, Kia Motors America, Red Bull, Lumber Liquidators and Sprint have condemned the remarks and said they will suspend their sponsorship and advertising obligations, closely monitor the situation and assess their options.

The statements attributed to Sterling have caused a firestorm in the sports world. Over a nine minute recording obtained by TMZ, Sterling apparently made several racist comments like the following:

"It bothers me a lot that you want to broadcast that you're associating with black people. Do you have to?" the man believed to be Sterling says. He continues, "You can sleep with [black people]. You can bring them in. You can do whatever you want. The little I ask you is not to promote it on that ... and not to bring them to my games."

At this point in time, only Corona is still listed as a sponsor for the Clippers.

In related news, Sterling apparently contacted his ex-girlfriend V. Stiviano asking "How can we make this thing go away?"  According to TMZ, she apparently has over 100 hours of recorded conversation with Sterling which, one imagines, could be very damaging to his career and fortune.