Responsibility Hits a Home-Run at 2009 MLB All-Star Game® and FanFest

TEAM Coalition returned to the Major League Baseball All-Star Game® and FanFest for the fifth summer to promote and run the Responsibility Has Its Rewards (RHIR) and Good Sport designated driver program at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, MO.

This year we helped fans give out their own messages about responsibility by filming fan Public Service Announcements (PSAs) from the TEAM booth at FanFest. Over 2000 groups of fans filmed PSAs at the midsummer classic this July, showing that MLB fans in St. Louis truly understand the importance of always having a designated driver. Click here to view the fans PSAs.

While all of the fans in St. Louis who pledged to get their friends and family home safely understand the importance of being designated drivers, one fan in particular reaped the rewards of responsibility: Amber Bockelman attended the All-Star festivities as the a winner of the 2008 MLB Responsibility Has Its Rewards sweepstakes. She signed up as a designated driver at Kauffman Stadium and represents the 340,000 MLB fans who pledged to be designated drivers during the 2008 season, as well as the Kansas City Royals. As part of her reward she received tickets for her and a guest to attend FanFest, the MLB Home Run Derby® and the All-Star Game itself. Amber joins Donald Burns and Mike Stark as the RHIR winners for the 2008 season. Donald and Mike represented the Tampa Bay Rays and the Philadelphia Phillies at one game of the 2008 World Series® as the RHIR winners from their respective teams for the season.

TEAM also partnered with MLB for the Charity 5K and Fun Run and helped spread the message of responsibility from its dugout-shaped booth at FanFest this year.

TEAM visits Utah and the 2009 MLS All-Star Game

TEAM once again attended the MLS All-Star Game at Rio Tinto Stadium in Salt Lake City, UT to spread the message that “Fans Don’t Let Fans Drive Drunk.” Fans visited the TEAM booth and learned how they can keep friends and family safe by pledging to be designated drivers. Fans took home souvenir pictures of themselves and film fan public service announcements (PSAs) to further spread the message of responsibility. TEAM partnered with Real Salt Lake, the Utah Department of Public Safety and MLS to make sure that Real Salt Lake fans and MLS fans from all over the country got to spread their voices to help prevent drunk driving. Click here to see the event details.

Partnership with Live Nation in Full Swing

As the summer moves along TEAM is hard at work with Live Nation to tell concert fans all over the country to never drive drunk and that Responsibility Has Its Rewards (RHIR). Starting this summer, TEAM partnered with concertgoers from Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania to Be a Hero. Be a Designated Driver, and is rewarding a lucky few with tickets to any Live Nation concert of their choice. Volunteers continue to pour in to help with managing summer concerts and we look forward a great concert season. If you would like to volunteer at a designated driver booth at a Live Nation concert this summer please visit the Volunteer Page. Thank you so much to all the Live Nation event staff and to everyone who has volunteered this summer from TEAM Coalition!

NFL embraces the Fans Don't Let Fans Drive Drunk message

The Fans Don't Let Fans Drive Drunk campaign is a first of its kind collaboration among the NFL, all 32 NFL teams, 31 stadiums, six concessionaires, multiple beer distributors, the nation's largest brewers, broadcasters, law enforcement agencies, and traffic safety experts.

The words "Fans Don't Let Fans Drive Drunk" will appear on all the beer cups across the league throughout the 2009 season. The message reminds NFL fans that they have a critical role when it comes promoting positive fan behavior and responsible drinking. For the last six seasons, fans who pledge to be designated drivers at NFL stadiums have been rewarded for that responsible decision through the Responsibility Has Its Rewards sweepstakes.

Fan PSA filmings with the NFL

As summer begins to fade it’s time to kick off another NFL season! TEAM visited the New England Patriots, the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the San Diego Chargers in the early part of August to film fan PSAs. Fans from their respective teams voiced their message of responsibility during pre-season games and will have a chance to be included in the final spot that will be shown on the stadiums video board throughout the 2009 NFL season.

TEAM will visit the Seattle Seahawks, Detroit Lions, Denver Broncos, Houston Texans, and the Arizona Cardinals in the later part of this month and September to film fan PSAs. Here’s to another successful season with TEAM and the NFL!

TEAM says farewell to our summer intern

In July TEAM welcomed Adam Hemmer as an intern for the summer. Born and raised in the Washington DC area, Adam brings his enthusiasm for sports and dedication to promoting TEAM’s message of responsibility to the office. He attended high school at Georgetown Day School in the District and is currently studying public policy and economics at Stanford University. Adam has been working hard in getting all the materials ready for the big Fans Don’t Let Fans Drive Drunk promotion with the NFL. He has been a tremendous asset to TEAM and we thank him for all his work and dedication.

Adam will be heading back to school at the end of August. Please join us in wishing him the best for his upcoming school year at Stanford. Thanks Adam!

Training Tips

People are getting craftier now-a-days in coming up with new gadgets and gear for trying to sneak alcohol into venues. Below is a brief article on some of the challenges that may affect you in your venues and perhaps you can begin to incorporate some of these red flags into your training.

Click here to view the creative ways that people can sneak alcohol into venues.

IDP Workshops

Would you like TEAM to come to your facility and conduct a TEAM Training? If you host a TEAM Training at your facility, you receive two free registrations! Please send us an e-mail if you are interested in hosting an IDP.

2009 is continuing to be one of TEAM’s busiest years so far in our Instructor Development Program (IDP) schedule. So far this year we have conducted 8 IDP workshops at sports and entertainment facilities across the country. Over 220 new trainers became certified and over 30 trainers recertified to date.

TEAM is busy scheduling new IDPs across the country. Here is the schedule of upcoming workshops for the fall and winter months:

To register for an upcoming IDP, click here.

Upcoming Events

TEAM is constantly traveling to promote our efforts in effective alcohol management and positive fan behavior. Here is the list of the events we plan to attend in the coming months.

• August 22nd: Seattle Seahawks RHIR PSA filming in Seattle, WA
  


• August 29th: Detroit Lions RHIR PSA filming in Detroit, MI
  


• August 30th: Denver Broncos RHIR PSA filming in Denver, CO
  


• August 31st: Houston Texans RHIR PSA filming in Houston, TX
  


• August 30th - September 2nd: Governors Highway Safety Association Annual Meeting in Savannah, GA
  


• September 12th - 13th: IAAM Arena Management Conference in Providence, RI
  


• September 12th: Southern Heritage Classic in Memphis, TN
  


• September 13th: Arizona Cardinals RHIR PSA filming in Glendale, AZ
  


• September 22nd - 25th: National Beer Wholesalers Association Annual Convention in Las Vegas, NV
  


• September 26th: Atlanta Football Classic in Atlanta, GA
  


• September 29th - 30th: Alcohol Responsibility Conference in Orlando, FL
  


• October 31st: Magic City Classic in Birmingham, AL
  


• November 28th: Bayou Classic in New Orleans, LA
  

To see the online calendar, click here.