CHICAGO, IL -- 04/26/2006 -- "Fans Don’t Let Fans Drive Drunk" will be the cheer recited by Chicago Bears fans at the NFL draft party this Saturday, April 29th. The Chicago Bears, Miller Brewing Company, the Illinois Department of Transportation, and TEAM Coalition are partnering to educate Bears fans about the importance of designating a driver, buckling up, and demonstrating positive fan behavior. And the spokespeople for this important message will be the Bears fans themselves.

While thousands of fans eagerly anticipate and prognosticate who will be the Bears newest stars on the field, those who pledge to be the designated driver for their friends and family at the party in the Cadillac Club at Soldier Field will have a chance to star in front of the camera by filming their own message about responsible behavior. PSAs produced using footage from the Draft Party filming will air throughout the season on the Soldier Field video board as well as on local broadcast TV. Participants will also get to take home a copy to share with friends and commemorate their Bears Draft Party experience.

This event is the newest element of the ‘Responsibility Has Its Rewards’ campaign. For the last three seasons, TEAM Coalition -- an alliance of professional and collegiate sports, entertainment facilities, stadium service partners, concessionaires, the beer industry, broadcasters, governmental traffic safety experts, and others working together to promote responsible drinking and positive fan behavior at sports facilities -- has coordinated a league-wide campaign, 'Responsibility Has Its Rewards' (RHIR), with the NFL in support of existing designated driver programs sponsored by concessionaires and brewers. As part of RHIR fan outreach efforts, fans may win tickets to the Super Bowl for pledging and demonstrating responsible behavior.

"Giving fans the opportunity to be the voice of the Responsibility Has Its Rewards campaign personalizes the ‘Fans Don’t Let Fans Drive Drunk’ message. The Chicago Bears, Miller Brewing Company and IL DOT are demonstrating that everyone – including the fans – plays an important role in alcohol management. Teamwork is exactly what this campaign is all about," said Jill Pepper, Executive Director of the TEAM Coalition.

During the season, fans that participate in the designated driver program at Soldier Field pledge to get everyone in their group home safely after the game and have a chance to win a trip to the Super Bowl or Pro Bowl. “We support the Bears efforts to encourage fans to act responsibly at Soldier Field and drive safely on the roads,” said Michael Stout, Traffic Safety Division Director for the Illinois Department of Transportation. “By rewarding fans for doing the right thing, the Bears are helping us keep life-saving traffic safety messages top of mind throughout the year.”

Approximately 90,000 fans across the league pledged to be designated drivers during the 2005/06 season. Nearly 5,000 Bears fans participated in the designated driver program offered at Soldier Field supported by Miller Brewing Company, Sportservice, and Levy Restaurants. "Miller Brewing Company has been working 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 and drunk driving," said Kristin Kaplan Wolfe, Director of Alcohol Responsibility Initiatives for Miller Brewing Company. "We see our participation in TEAM as an important complement to our overall responsibility initiatives."

The designated driver program is a valuable component of the alcohol management efforts at Soldier Field. In addition, through TEAM training, employees are trained to observe fan behavior and intervene when fans are acting inappropriately. Alcohol service policies are enforced to encourage only fans of legal drinking age to consume alcohol responsibly. These efforts represent a complete alcohol management plan in which the fans, stadium employees, corporate sponsors, state government traffic safety experts and team representatives are all working toward common goals – responsible alcohol consumption, positive fan behavior, and traffic safety. On draft day, fans who embrace these goals will have a unique opportunity to show their dedication to the Bears, because responsibility really does have its rewards.