MINNEAPOLIS, July 16, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Major League Baseball (MLB), the Minnesota Twins, Budweiser and TEAM Coalition encouraged fans to be responsible and respect others while attending MLB All-Star activities July 11-15, through the Budweiser Good Sport program and the Responsibility Has Its Rewards sweepstakes for designated drivers.
Budweiser Good Sport is a comprehensive action plan that encourages a positive crowd environment by reminding fans to be responsible, respect the rights of others and use a designated driver. The program is supported by Budweiser brewer Anheuser-Busch and its Minneapolis-area wholesalers along with MLB, TEAM Coalition, Target Field, Delaware North Companies Sportservice and local law enforcement.
Responsibility Has Its Rewards is an MLB league-wide sweepstakes which rewards one randomly-selected fan who pledged to be a designated driver during the previous regular season with a trip to the All-Star Game. This year's winner is Sheila Serna, a responsible Colorado Rockies fan who attended the Gatorade All-Star Workout Day at Target Field featuring The Home Run Derby and 85th MLB All-Star Game with her guest, Jessie Serna. Sheila was recognized on the Target Field video board during the All-Star Game, serving as a representative of the record 511,000 MLB fans who pledged to be designated drivers last season.
"The MLB All-Star Game is a celebration of our sport, its best athletes and our great fans," said John McHale, Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer, Major League Baseball. "The Budweiser Good Sport program and Responsibility Has Its Rewards sweepstakes help provide fans with a safe, family-friendly experience by promoting responsible fan behavior and also rewarding MLB fans who help get their friends home safely by being a designated driver."
1,427 baseball fans over the age of 21 signed up to be designated drivers prior to and during the events at Target Field, including the Home Run Derby and MLB All-Star Game. Two Budweiser Good Sport designated driver booths were located inside Target Field and outside the ballpark in the MLB Sponsor Zone. Fans who registered received a coupon for a complimentary Pepsi beverage, courtesy of DNC Sportservice.
An additional 4,090 fans who visited MLB All-Star FanFest at The Minneapolis Convention Center pledged to be responsible, added their autographs to a wall of signatures of responsible fans which will be displayed at Target Field for the remainder of the 2014 season and received a souvenir photo displaying the responsibility message along with All-Star images.
In total, 5,517 MLB fans pledged to be responsible during the 2014 MLB All-Star Week.
"Anheuser-Busch has led our industry in promoting responsible drinking for more than 30 years and Budweiser Good Sport is one of our most visible programs, which reminds fans who choose to drink, to do so responsibly and get their friends home safely," said Kathy Casso, vice president, Corporate Social Responsibility at Anheuser-Busch. "We all share the same streets after the game. This partnership with Major League Baseball, , TEAM Coalition and baseball fans displays our collective responsibility to help keep our roads safe."
Anheuser-Busch and its wholesalers promote responsible drinking among professional baseball fans by implementing Budweiser Good Sport fan responsibility programs with 23 MLB venues throughout the season.
"The success of the Responsibility Has Its Rewards campaign with Major League Baseball and Budweiser is a direct result of the commitment from the League, the MLB Clubs, the brewers, beer wholesalers, concessionaires and all the campaign partners," said Jill Pepper, executive director of TEAM Coalition. "Teamwork is what this campaign is all about. We are demonstrating that when everyone - including the fans - takes responsibility, everyone wins."
About MLB
Major League Baseball (MLB) is the oldest professional sports league in the United States and consists of 30 member clubs in the U.S. and Canada representing the highest level of professional baseball. Under the guidance of its ninth Commissioner, Allan H. (Bud) Selig, MLB has experienced dramatic changes including Interleague Play, the introduction of the Wild Card, the new expanded postseason format in 2012, the most comprehensive drug-testing program in U.S. professional sports, an unprecedented era of labor peace, significant revenue sharing among the clubs and a growth in revenue from $1.2 billion in 1992 to more than $7 billion in 2011. The last eight seasons have been the best attended in MLB history with each year, including 2011, eclipsing the 73 million mark. With the continued success of MLB Network and MLB Advanced Media and the return of the MLB Fan Cave, MLB continues to find innovative ways for its fans to enjoy the National Pastime. For more information on Major League Baseball, visit www.MLB.com.
About Anheuser-Busch
For more than three decades, Anheuser-Busch and its nationwide network of wholesalers have invested more than $1 billion in national advertising campaigns and community-based programs to promote responsible drinking, prevent underage drinking and drunk driving and address college issues. For more information on these alcohol responsibility efforts and the progress being made, visit www.anheuser-busch.com.
About 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 Baseball, Major League Soccer, 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, International Association of Venue Managers, Stadium Managers Association and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. For more information, go to www.TEAMCoalition.org, www.RHIR.org and www.FansDontLetFansDriveDrunk.org.
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