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CHICAGO, IL – The Chicago Bears are one of five NFL teams being recognized for their large number of fans pledging to be designated drivers at home games this season, the TEAM Coalition (Techniques for Effective Alcohol Management) announced today. This is the second season in a row that the Bears have earned this honor. The Bears join the Baltimore Ravens, Washington Redskins, San Diego Chargers, and Tennessee Titans in this prestigious ranking to save lives on our nation’s highways.
“We want the game-day experience to continue to be safe and enjoyable for Bears fans while they enjoy Soldier Field and as they travel home after the games,” said Ted Phillips, president and CEO of the Chicago Bears. “We’re proud of our fans’ commitment to responsible behavior and thrilled to reward them with such a great opportunity.”
Through the MillerCoors You Hold the Key Never Drive Drunk Designated Driver program, nearly 10,000 Bears fans promised to refrain from drinking and be the designated drivers to get their friends and family home safely from Soldier Field this season. TEAM Coalition has been aggressively promoting Designated-Driver programs like You Hold the Key Never Drive Drunk at NFL stadiums since 2003 with a league-wide campaign called Responsibility Has Its Rewards. The campaign encourages fans to participate in Designated-Driver programs supported by beer and concessionaire companies at every NFL stadium nationwide.
"MillerCoors has worked closely with professional sports teams like the Bears for more than two decades to encourage responsible consumption at sporting events, and to help prevent underage access to alcohol and drunk driving," said Kim Marotta, vice president, Corporate Social Responsibility for MillerCoors. "We feel our participation in TEAM complements our overall responsibility initiatives."
“Sobriety is no accident,” said Sportservice president Rick Abramson. “That’s why we work closely with our clients to strongly promote and advocate that fans make responsible decisions when it comes to alcohol and to take appropriate action, including declining to serve them, when they do not. The Designated Driver program is an important component of the alcohol management program at Soldier Field.”
During the 2007 NFL season, 6,000 Bears fans and nearly 120,000 football fans planned ahead and make the responsible, winning play by pledging to be designated drivers. This season, the Bears saw a 66% increase in participation in the Designated Driver program and the league-wide total is estimated to be 140,000.
“This promotion is an opportunity for the NFL to show support for the teams’ efforts in coordination with the concessionaire, brewer, and beer wholesaler to encourage responsible fan behavior. And for the fans, it’s a great reminder that responsibility really does have its rewards,” said Jill Pepper, executive director of the TEAM Coalition.
One lucky Bears fan, Fred Zorn, was selected by TEAM Coalition as the Bears’ Designated Driver of the Season. The Designated Drivers of the Season from the two teams competing in the Super Bowl® will join their favorite teams at Super Bowl XLIII® which will be played on February 1, 2009 at Raymond James Stadium in Florida. The other Designated Drivers for the Season will be entered in a drawing to win a trip to the 2009 NFL Pro Bowl® in Honolulu, Hawaii. The winner of that prize will be selected by TEAM Coalition through a random drawing after the NFC and AFC Champions are determined.
Fortunately, football fans join millions of other Americans in doing “the ride thing.” According to the 2007 Designated Driver poll conducted by Nielsen Media Research, 154 million Americans have been a designated driver or have been driven home by one.
TEAM Coalition – an alliance of professional and collegiate sports, entertainment facilities, concessionaires, the beer industry, broadcasters, governmental traffic safety experts and others working together to promote responsible drinking and positive fan behavior at sports facilities – coordinated Responsibility Has Its Rewards.
For more information, please visit www.TeamCoalition.org or
www.rhir.org.
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