TEAM Coalition celebrated both the NCAA® Men’s and Women’s Final Four® with the 11th year of the organization’s drunk driving prevention initiative, TEAMUp2Win!®. NCAA, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and TEAM Coalition partnered to capitalized on the excitement of the 2019 NCAA Men’s and Women’s basketball tournaments and encouraged fans to celebrate responsibly. To participate in TEAMUp2Win!, individuals made the pledge to:
- Never drive drunk
- Always have a designated driver
- Never provide alcohol to anyone under 21 years of age
- Always buckle up every trip every time
Nearly 7,000 fans across the country made the pledge this year. Each had a chance to win one of two grand prizes, a trip for two to the 2019 NCAA Men’s Final Four and a trip for two to the 2019 NCAA Women’s Final Four, provided courtesy of the NCAA and TEAM Coalition.
The Men’s Final Four prize winner was Jody Negen. She received a pair of tickets to the 2019 NCAA Men’s Final Four games on Saturday, April 6 and the championship game on Monday, April 8 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, MN.
The Women’s Final Four prize winner was CharLissa Foster. She traveled from Dallas, TX to Tampa, FL and received two tickets to the 2019 NCAA Women’s Final Four games on Friday, April 5 and the championship game on Sunday, April 7 at Amalie Arena.
TEAM partnered with Aramark and SMG at U.S. Bank Stadium to offer fans the designated driver program. As 2019 was the first year that beer was sold through general concessions, it was important to all the organizations involved to make sure all reasonable efforts were in place – including the designated driver program. Between the Final Four and the Championship Game, a total of 80 fans made the pledge to be the designated driver for their group. And they received a complimentary soft drink from Aramark.
TEAM Coalition was also an on-site partner with the NCAA for all the festivities surrounding both the Men’s and Women’s Final Four competitions. 1,598 fans made the pledge to be responsible at the four-day indoor Fan Fest presented by Capital One at the Minneapolis Convention Center.
Another 437 women’s college basketball fans made their pledge never to drive drunk and always to have a designated driver at the Tourney Town™ presented by Capital One at the Tampa Convention Center. Every fan who pledged to be responsible received a free souvenir photo and a small giveaway. Thanks to TEAM’s partnership with NHTSA, adult fans were reminded that “Buzzed Driving is Drunk Driving” and those under 21 were encouraged to “Buckle Up Every Trip, Every Time.”
Between the two events, a total of 850 photos were taken and viewed more than 1,400 times after being shared via text, email and social media posts.
[NCAA, Final Four, and March Madness are trademarks owned or licensed by the National Collegiate Athletic Association.]
US DOT / NHTSA 2017 NATIONAL DATA:
- In 2017, 10,874 people were killed as a result of alcohol-related (BAC > 0.08) car crashes, a decrease of 1.1% from the 10,996 fatalities in 2016.
- 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
