SUPER BOWL PLANNER

SAMPLE NEWS RELEASE

Note: before filling in the names of the Organization and Organization spokesperson, you MUST contact them to obtain their permission to use their names in this press release, and you must get their approval for the language of their quotations, and any changes or additions they may require. Only after this is done should you send out the press release.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: [Date]

CONTACT: [Name, Phone Number, E-mail]

Fans Don’t Let Fans Drive Drunk

Pass Your Keys to a Designated Driver This Super Bowl Sunday

[City, ST] -- [Local Leader/Organization] announced today that they are joining forces with the National Football League (NFL), the Techniques for Effective Alcohol Management Coalition (TEAM), Recording Artists, Actors and Athletes Against Drunk Driving (RADD), the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and other state and local highway safety and law enforcement officials to remind everyone to act responsibly by designating a sober driver if they plan on using alcohol this Super Bowl weekend.

“We want to remind everyone this weekend that real Fans Don’t Let Fans Drive Drunk,” said [Local Leader]. “If you plan on using alcohol while cheering your team on to victory, pass your keys to a sober, designated driver before the Super Bowl party begins. Follow the rules or law enforcement will penalize you for driving impaired. We want everyone to make the right play for the big game.”

This effort is part of the NFL-TEAM-RADD’s season-long Responsibility Has Its Rewards national designated driver program. During the 2004 season, more than 80,000 football fans pledged to be a sober designated driver. For 2005, TEAM projects more than 100,000 fans will have pledged to make the winning play.

Super Bowl Sunday is one of America’s biggest and most entertaining national sporting events as friends and families gather to socialize and watch the big game. Yet, it is also one of the nation’s most dangerous days on the roadways due to impaired driving.

According to NHTSA, 158 people died, representing 51 percent of all traffic fatalities during the 2004 Super Bowl weekend, due to impaired drivers with blood alcohol concentration (BAC) levels of .08% and higher.

[Local Leader] said that designating a sober driver should be on the top of everyone’s Super Bowl party list.

-MORE-

If you are hosting a Super Bowl party:

• Remember, you can be held liable and prosecuted if someone you served ends up in an impaired driving crash.
• Make sure all of your guests designate their sober drivers in advance, or help arrange ride-sharing with other sober drivers.
• Serve lots of food——and include lots of non-alcoholic beverages at the party.
• Stop serving alcohol at the end of the third quarter of the game and begin serving coffee and dessert.
• Keep the numbers for local cab companies handy, and take the keys away from anyone who is thinking of driving while impaired.

If you are attending a Super Bowl party or watching at a sports bar or restaurant:

• Avoid drinking too much alcohol too fast. Pace yourself—eat enough food, take breaks and alternate with non-alcoholic drinks.
• Designate your sober driver before the party begins and give that person your car keys.
• If you don’t have a designated driver, ask a sober friend for a ride home; call a cab, friend or family member to come and get you; or just stay where you are and sleep it off until you are sober.
• Use your community’s Sober Rides program [Insert your local Sober Rides specifics here];
• Never let a friend leave your sight if you think they are about to drive while impaired. Remember, Fans Don’t Let Fans Drive Drunk.
• Always buckle up – it’s still your best defense against other impaired drivers.

NFL’s Season-long Commitment to Community & Traffic Safety

The Super Bowl effort is part of the NFL-TEAM-RADD’s season-long Responsibility Has Its Rewards designated driver program at every NFL stadium nationwide, including [closest NFL team name]. Fans who pledged to be designated drivers at NFL games were eligible to enter a drawing to be selected as the team’s designated driver for the season. The selected designated drivers for each of the two teams that compete in the Super Bowl received two tickets, airfare and hotel accommodations to attend the big game.

In addition, one designated driver from an NFL team that does not play in the Super Bowl will be chosen at random to attend the 2006 NFL Pro Bowl in Honolulu, Hawaii.

The TEAM Coalition—an alliance of professional and collegiate sports, entertainment facilities, concessionaries, the beer industry, broadcasters, traffic safety experts and others including RADD—works to promote responsible drinking and positive fan behavior at all sports and entertainment facilities.

For more information, please visit www.StopImpairedDriving.org or www.TeamCoalition.org.

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