| WASHINGTON, DC (July 7, 2010) — Live Nation (NYSE: LYV), the world’s largest live music company, the U.S. Department of Transportation National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, TEAM Coalition, and the HERO Campaign launched the second year of a summer-long alliance to encourage concertgoers in Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania to “Be a HERO. Be a Designated Driver.” Through the Responsibility Has Its Rewards sweepstakes, this partnership rewards fans who promise to be the designated driver at events held at select Live Nation amphitheaters in three states. Social-norming messages, including “Buzzed Driving is Drunk Driving,” will also reach concertgoers through this partnership.
In many venues, the designated-driver program offers complimentary soft drinks, provided by each venue’s concessionaire, to concertgoers who acknowledge they will not drink alcohol and ensure that their friends and family get home safely. The designated-driver program will also be promoted on LiveNation.com, which includes messaging on venue maps and directions available on the site.
The Responsibility Has Its Rewards sweepstakes component of the partnership will reward many lucky designated drivers. At the end of the summer concert season, each of the participating venues will hold a random drawing and select a Designated Driver for the 2010 Summer Concert Season. Those finalists will each receive a prize consisting of two tickets to a concert of their choice at that venue during the 2011 concert season.
“This alliance with national leaders in the promotion of responsible fan behavior and the designated-driver program shows how significantly an innovative activation can enhance the guest experience at live music events,” said Russell Wallach, President of North American Alliance at Live Nation. “It is our hope that this partnership continues to grow to involve more Live Nation venues in the years to come in order to reach more fans with this life-saving message, keeping the roads safer for everyone.”
“We want all summer concertgoers to enjoy the show and have a positive concert experience by drinking responsibly,” said Administrator David Strickland of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. “That’s why we’re reminding music fans to designate a sober driver before they let the good times roll.”
“Live Nation’s platform is ideal for communicating the “Be a HERO. Be a Designated Driver” message,” said William Elliott, President of the Ensign John R. Elliott HERO Campaign for Designated Drivers. “Rewarding concertgoers – who drive to the shows – for their responsible behavior is how we hope to reinforce the designated-driver message.
Executive Director for TEAM Coalition, Jill Pepper, added, “This program works because it engages the venues, the concessionaires, and the fans in the responsibility message. And when everyone takes responsibility, everyone wins.”
About TEAM Coalition:
TEAM Coalition is an alliance of professional and collegiate sports, entertainment facilities, concessionaires, stadium service providers, the beer industry, broadcasters, governmental traffic safety experts, and others working together to promote responsible drinking and positive fan behavior at sports and entertainment facilities. For more information, please visit teamcoalition.org or rhir.org to learn more about the Responsibility Has Its Rewards program.
TEAM Coalition members and supporters include Live Nation, Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer, National Basketball Association, National Football League, National Hockey League, National Collegiate Athletic Association, Beer Institute, National Beer Wholesalers Association, Anheuser-Busch, MillerCoors, ARAMARK, Delaware North Companies – Sportservice, Ovations Food Services, IAAM, Live Nation, the National Association of Broadcasters, Contemporary Services Corporation, Elite Show Staffing and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
About HERO Campaign:
The HERO Campaign for Designated Drivers was launched by the Elliott family in August of 2000 in memory of John’s tragic death at the hands of a drunken driver. The purpose of the HERO Campaign for Designated Drivers® is to promote the use of sober designated drivers to prevent drunken driving tragedies throughout our country. In cooperation with schools, businesses, law enforcement agencies, and other community-based organizations, we ask you to help keep drunk drivers off our highways.
About NHTSA:
NHTSA: (The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration), under the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), was established by the Highway Safety Act of 1970, as the successor to the National Highway Safety Bureau, to carry out safety programs under the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966 and the Highway Safety Act of 1966. www.nhtsa.gov.
About Live Nation:
Live Nation’s mission is to maximize the live concert experience. Our core business is producing, marketing and selling live concerts for artists via our global concert pipe. Live Nation is the largest producer of live concerts in the world, annually producing over 22,000 concerts for 1,600 artists in 33 countries. During 2008, the company sold over 50 million concert tickets and drove over 70 million unique visitors to LiveNation.com. Live Nation is transforming the concert business by expanding its concert platform into ticketing and building the industry’s first artist-to-fan vertically integrated concert platform. The company is headquartered in Los Angeles, California and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, trading under the symbol LYV. For additional information about the company, please visit www.livenation.com/investors. |
