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"One of Major League Soccer’s top priorities is the safety of our fans, and our partnership with TEAM Coalition is an excellent program that provides a positive message...We’re pleased to work with TEAM Coalition to promote responsible habits."
--- Don Garber, Commissioner, Major League Soccer
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As the Houston Dynamo and LA Galaxy close the door on the 2011 season after amazing performances at MLS Cup 2011TM, one fan from the Houston Dynamo is reminiscing about the experience of a lifetime even with the loss to the Galaxy at MLS Cup 2011TM. Taleisha Ward was selected as the grand prize winner of the “Responsibility Has Its Rewards” sweepstakes. Ward, a Dynamo fan from Fresno, Texas, attended MLS Cup 2011TM at Home Depot Center in Carson, California. She was randomly chosen from among the nearly 12,000 fans who pledged to be designated drivers at MLS games throughout the 2011 season, ensuring a safe ride home for her friends and family.
“One of Major League Soccer’s top priorities is the safety of our fans, and our partnership with TEAM Coalition is an excellent program that provides a positive message,” said Evan Dabby, MLS senior director of Operations and TEAM Coalition third Vice Chairman. “We’re pleased to work with TEAM Coalition to promote responsible habits.”
For the sixth consecutive season, Major League Soccer (MLS), Techniques for Effective Alcohol Management (TEAM) Coalition and Anheuser-Busch joined together to make more fans aware of the League’s designated-driver programs, including the Budweiser Good Sport partnership with the Dynamo and Galaxy. The designated-driver programs and the Responsibility Has Its Rewards sweepstakes promote traffic safety by encouraging responsible drinking and positive fan behavior.
“Tying the ‘Responsibility Has Its Rewards’ sweepstakes to our season-long Good Sport program makes for a winning combination,” said Kathy Casso, vice president of Corporate Social Responsibility for Anheuser-Busch. “We’re pleased to work with MLS, the Dynamo, LA Galaxy, TEAM and the other program partners to recognize fans who look out for each other and make a designated driver part of their game plan. When it comes to preventing drunk driving, we’re all part of the team.”
As the Dynamo Designated Driver for the Season, Ward received two tickets to MLS Cup 2011, roundtrip airfare and hotel accommodations as well as a halftime photo on the field and a meeting with MLS officials.
(l to r) Jill Pepper, Executive Director of TEAM Coalition; Taleisha Ward, Houston Dynamo Designated Driver for the Season; Rowsheka Cobbs, guest; David Henson, Anheuser-Busch.
Click here to view the details of the 2011 RHIR sweepstakes.
During the 2011 MLS regular season, 11,872 soccer fans planned ahead and made the responsible, winning play by pledging to be designated drivers.
 The top three MLS clubs for designated drivers in 2011 are:
- Seattle Sounders FC: 3,407 designated drivers
- Real Salt Lake: 1,945 designated drivers
- New England Revolution: 1,311 designated drivers
“This promotion is an opportunity for MLS to show support for the clubs’ efforts in coordination with the concessionaires, the brewers and the local beer wholesalers to encourage responsible fan behavior,” said Jill Pepper, executive director, TEAM Coalition. “For fans, it’s a great reminder that responsibility really does have its rewards.”
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NATIONAL CAMPAIGN: Responsibility Has Its Rewards™
RHIR PARTNERS INCLUDE:
- Major League Soccer
- TEAM Coalition (Techniques for Effective Alcohol Management)
- Anheuser-Busch
- Brown Forman
 
WHO: Fans and the Community
WHAT: Major League Soccer and TEAM invited fans
to take the pledge to be responsible soccer fans, which means never driving drunk, always having a designated driver and buckling up - every trip every time. TEAM gave the responsible fans a free souviner photo of themselves at the Soccer Celebration. And fans who pledged to be responsible also had an opportunity to autograph a larger than life soccer ball.
 
Houston Dynamo Designated Driver for the Season, Taleisha Ward,
attended the game as the grand prize winner of the Responsibility Has Its Rewards sweepstakes.
WHERE: MLS Cup 2011 at Home Depot Center in Carson, CA
WHEN: Sunday, November 20, 2011
Major League Soccer: www.MLSsoccer.com
TEAM Coalition: TEAM Coalition is an alliance of professional and collegiate sports, entertainment facilities, concessionaries, stadium service providers, the beer industry, distillers, broadcasters, traffic safety experts and others working together to promote responsible drinking and positive fan behavior at sports and entertainment facilities. TEAM Coalition members and supporters include Major League Soccer, Major League Baseball, NASCAR, National Basketball Association, National Football League, National Hockey League, National Collegiate Athletic Association, ARAMARK, Delaware North Companies – Sportservice, Ovations Food Services, Beer Institute, National Beer Wholesalers Association, Anheuser-Busch Companies, MillerCoors, Brown-Forman, Live Nation, National Association of Broadcasters, Contemporary Services Corporation, Elite Show Services, International Association of Venue Managers, Stadium Managers Association and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
For more information visit www.TEAMCoalition.org or www.RHIR.org
US DOT / NHTSA 2009 NATIONAL DATA:
- In 2009, 10,839 people were killed as a result of alcohol-related (BAC > 0.08) car crashes, a decline of 7.4% from the 11,711 fatalities in 2008
- Many, if not most of those lives would have been saved if people did not drive when they were impaired by alcohol or if they used sober, designated drivers or if they simply wore their seat belts.
- Statistics and research clearly show that 21-34 year old males are the demographic most likely to be involved in an automobile crash, drive when impaired by alcohol, and fail to buckle up.
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