MINNEAPOLIS, MN -- 04/26/2006 -- "Fans Don’t Let Fans Drive Drunk" will be the cheer recited by Vikings fans at the NFL draft party this Saturday, April 29th. The Minnesota Vikings, Miller Brewing Company, and TEAM Coalition are partnering to educate Vikings 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 Vikings fans themselves.

While thousands of fans eagerly anticipate and prognosticate who will be the Vikings newest stars on the field, those who pledge to be the designated driver for their friends and family at the party at the Vikings Winter Park Training Facility in Eden Prairie, MN 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 Vikings Draft Party filming will air throughout the season on local broadcast TV. Participants will also get to take home a copy to share with friends and commemorate their Vikings 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 Minnesota Vikings and Miller Brewing Company 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 the Metrodome 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 Vikings and their partners rewarding responsible fan behavior,” said Lt. Mark Peterson of the Minnesota State Patrol. “For those who make a bad call and drive impaired, they face arrest and a most unpleasant ‘post-game’ experience.”

Approximately 90,000 fans across the league pledged to be designated drivers during the 2005/06 season. Thousands of Vikings fans participated in the designated driver program offered at the Metrodome supported by Miller Brewing Company, Centerplate, and the local non-profit group Minnesotans for Safe Driving. "Miller Brewing Company has been working closely with professional sports teams like the Vikings 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 the Metrodome. 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. "We want the game-day experience to continue to be safe and enjoyable for Vikings fans while they are at the stadium and as they travel home after the games," said Steve LaCroix, Vikings Vice President of Sales and Marketing. "We are very happy to have Vikings fans participate in our efforts to reward responsible behavior."