Alexandria, VA, Feb. 14, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- While basketball fans everywhere focus their attention on the 63rd NBA All-Star Game on February 16, 2013, Techniques for Effective Alcohol Management (TEAM) Coalition and Hillard Heintze, a leading private strategic security advisory and management company, announced the eligibility of the winners of the Responsibility Has Its Rewards (RHIR) sweepstakes for Designated Drivers.
Oscar Rosse, the Houston Rockets Designated Driver for the Season, is on his way to New Orleans, Louisiana to enjoy the All-Star Game and cheer on James Harden and Dwight Howard, the Rockets All-Star selections at guard and center respectively.
The two grand prize winners of the Responsibility Has Its Rewards sweepstakes - Pat Hoskin, Designated Driver of the Season for the Miami Heat, and Ruth Hernandez, Designated Driver of the Season for the San Antonio Spurs - were each rewarded with two tickets to Game 1 and Game 3, respectively, of The NBA Finals 2013.
For the seventh consecutive season, the NBA and TEAM Coalition have joined together to make more fans aware of the NBA teams' designated driver programs. The designated driver programs and the "Responsibility Has Its Rewards" sweepstakes promote traffic safety by encouraging responsible drinking and positive fan behavior. At the end of the regular season, each team selects a "Designated Driver for the Season." The Designated Drivers for the Season representing the two teams competing in The NBA Finals receive two tickets to the first game at their respective home teams' arena. The NBA All-Star Game prize winner is randomly selected from the remaining Designated Drivers for the Season representing NBA teams that did not compete in the Championship.
So far this season, over 31,000 fans have pledged to be designated drivers during games at the twenty nine arenas across the country. Fans are on target to exceed the 2012-2013 pledge total of 65,717 designated drivers.
"The success of the 'Responsibility Has Its Rewards' campaign with the NBA is a direct result of the commitment from the league, the teams 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."
TEAM Coalition is an alliance of professional and collegiate sports, entertainment facilities, concessionaires, stadium service providers, the beer industry, distillers, broadcasters, governmental traffic safety experts and others working together to promote responsible drinking and positive fan behavior at sports and entertainment facilities. TEAM Coalition members are united by a shared mission to enhance the entertainment experience, provide effective alcohol management training in public assembly facilities and promote responsible alcohol consumption through the use of positive messages that reward responsible behavior and help to reduce negative alcohol-related incidents both in facilities and on surrounding roadways, recognizing that the vast majority of fans are responsible.
"As we have been for many years," Arnette Heintze, CEO of Hillard Heintze said, "we are proud to be partnering with TEAM Coalition in keeping NBA fans and their families - and other people on our roads safe." Hillard Heintze conducts the background checks for the winners using the advanced technology and services of S2Verify, LLC, one of the fastest growing companies in the employee screening market and the leading screening industry process innovator.
In addition to the NBA All-Star Game and The NBA Finals, Hillard Heintze will partner with TEAM Coalition to provide similar background screening services for fans who pledge to be responsible and therefore become entered to win a trip to collegiate and professional sporting events including the NCAA® Men's Final Four®, the NCAA® Women's Final Four® in April, the 2014 MLB All-Star Game in July and the 2014 MLS All-Star Game in August.
About TEAM Coalition TEAM Coalition is an
alliance of professional and collegiate sports, entertainment
facilities, concessionaries, stadium service providers, the beer
industry, 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 National Basketball Association, Major League
Baseball, Major League Soccer, NASCAR, 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.
About Hillard Heintze Hillard Heintze provides the strategic thought leadership, trusted counsel and end-to-end services that help leading public and private corporations as well as government agencies and major public service organizations advance best-in-class security strategies and investigations to protect and preserve the safety of their people, property, performance and reputation. For the last three years, Hillard Heintze has been recognized by Inc. Magazine as one of America's fastest-growing private companies - and ranked on the annual Inc. 500/5000 list as No. 242 in 2009, No. 583 in 2010, and No. 764 in 2011. The company has also been acknowledged by the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC) as one of the 100 fastest-growing inner city firms in the United States, ranking #6 in the nation in 2011 and #11 in 2012. Headquartered in Chicago, Hillard Heintze also has operations in Washington D.C., Raleigh, Boston, Miami, Cincinnati, San Jose and Virginia Beach, as well as operating capabilities across North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Russia and Asia.
For more information, please visit www.TEAMCoalition.org,
www.RHIR.org or
www.hillardheintze.com
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