Houston Astros Recognized as Winners of Budweiser Good Sport Designated Driver Challenge 2016 -

12/19/2016

The Houston Astros were recognized on December 19, 2016 for winning the 2016 Budweiser Good Sport Designated Driver Challenge against the Texas Rangers. Representatives from the Astros, Aramark, Anheuser-Busch and TEAM Coalition gathered for the celebration.

The Budweiser Good Sport Designated Driver Challenge tracked the number of fans who pledged to be designated drivers at all 2016 regular season home games for both Clubs. Each fan who pledged to be a designated driver at Minute Maid Park earned the Astros 1 point in the challenge. The Astros finished with 19,521 designated drivers as compared to 16,496 for the Rangers.

Budweiser Good Sport Designated Driver Challenge trophy

The Astros, Aramark and Anheuser-Busch have been working together successfully for the Budweiser Good Sport designated driver program for several years. The Budweiser Good Sport designated driver program is just one component of the fan behavior initiatives offered by the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park. Other components include:

A Guest Code of Conduct posted in and around Minute Maid Park
Alcohol service policies including ID checks for fans who look 35 years of age or younger, no more than two alcoholic beverages per person per transaction and alcohol cut-off at the end of the seventh inning

Anheuser-Busch has led our industry in promoting responsible drinking for more than 30 years and Budweiser Good Sport is one of our most visible programs, which reminds fans who choose to drink, to do so responsibly and get their friends home safely. We all share the same streets after the game. This partnership with the Houston Astros, TEAM Coalition and baseball fans displays our commitment to keeping our roads safe.Katja Zastrow, Vice President of Corporate Social Responsibility-Better World for Anheuser-Busch

Teamwork is exactly what this organization is all about. Through the Designated Driver Challenge, we are demonstrating that when everyone – including the fans – takes responsibility, everyone wins.Jill Pepper, Executive Director, TEAM Coalition

About Anheuser-Busch

Anheuser-Busch and its employees build on a legacy of corporate social responsibility by focusing on three key areas: promoting alcohol responsibility, preserving and protecting the environment and supporting local communities. In the past three decades, Anheuser-Busch and its wholesalers have invested more than $1 billion in national advertising campaigns and community-based programs to encourage responsible drinking and prevent underage drinking and drunk driving. Anheuser-Busch reduced total water use at its breweries 15 percent over the last 5 years and by 48 percent over the last 10 years. The company has been a leading aluminum recycler for more than 30 years. Since 1997, Anheuser-Busch and its Foundation have invested in local communities through donations of more than $573 million to charitable organizations. The company also has provided more than 73.6 million cans of emergency drinking water to people impacted by natural and other disasters since 1988. Based in St. Louis, Anheuser-Busch, the leading American brewer, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev, the leading global brewer. For more information, visit www.anheuser-busch.com.

TEAM Coalition

TEAM Coalition is an alliance of professional and collegiate sports, entertainment facilities, concessionaires, stadium service providers, the beer industry, distillers, 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 Major League Baseball, Anheuser-Busch, Major League Soccer, NASCAR, National Basketball Association, National Football League, National Hockey League, National Collegiate Athletic Association, Americrown, Aramark, Delaware North Sportservice, Legends, Spectra, Beer Institute, National Beer Wholesalers Association, Constellation Brands, HEINEKEN USA, MillerCoors, Brown-Forman, Live Nation, National Association of Broadcasters, Contemporary Services Corporation, International Association of Venue Managers, Stadium Managers Association and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. For more information visit www.TEAMCoalition.org or www.FansDontLetFansDriveDrunk.org.

US DOT / NHTSA 2015 NATIONAL DATA:

• 10,265 people were killed as a result of alcohol-related (BAC > 0.08) car crashes, an increase of 3.2% from the 9,943 fatalities in 2014.

• Many, if not most of those lives would have been saved if people did not drive when they were impaired by alcohol or if they used sober, designated drivers or if they simply wore their seat belts.

• Statistics and research clearly show that 21-34 year old males are the demographic most likely to be involved in an automobile crash, drive when impaired by alcohol, and fail to buckle up.