ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — 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.