Entertainment & Sports International Announces Expanded 2005 Itinerary for The Principal Family Fun Fest
The Principal Financial Group Continues Multi-Million Dollar Title Sponsorship of The Most Extensive Traveling Baseball Festival
New York, NY (PRWEB) March 21, 2005 -- Entertainment & Sports
International (ESI) and the Principal Financial Group® are pleased to announce
the expanded itinerary for the second year of the successful Principal Family
Fun Fest— the most extensive traveling festival celebrating minor league
baseball in history.
This free, family-oriented event
is scheduled to visit 56 minor league ball teams across the United States with
more than 60 separate events. The tour kicks off with the Charlotte Knights in
Charlotte, N.C. on April 2.
The Principal Family Fun
Fest is a daylong celebration of baseball. It includes a traveling minor league
baseball museum, and a fan festival midway with more than 20 baseball-themed
attractions, including inflatable batting and pitching cages, bungee runs, a
giant slide, and a video game trailer.
In 2004, the
tour visited 53 teams, two All Star games and was attended by more than 250,000
fans. The debut coincided with minor league baseball’s most successful
attendance season in history, which saw over 40 million fans come through the
turnstiles. The success of the 2004 tour was heralded as a great victory by
teams, sponsors and fans alike, allowing ESI to schedule more teams and dates
for 2005, add new attractions and create the exciting new 401(k) Challenge Cup
and sweepstakes.
“The response to the 2004 tour was overwhelming,” said
ESI co-president Bert Gould. “All of the teams we visited were enthusiastic and
hospitable, which was heartening based on the fact we were a new event. Now that
teams know what to expect, they have been eager to schedule a Principal Family
Fun Fest event at their ballpark in 2005. We have more offers for dates then we
can satisfy.”
“We were extremely impressed with the festival,” said Brad
Tammen, vice-president and assistant general manager, Salt Lake Stingers.
“Attendance at The Principal Family Fun Fest was our fourth largest attended
game in 2004. We definitely want to be a part of 2005.”
As the title sponsor, the Principal Financial Group was pleased about the
first year of its three-year sponsorship as well. “The Principal Family Fun Fest
is a great way to bring wholesome, family-oriented entertainment to the
communities where our clients and employees live,” said Dan Houston, senior vice
president, The Principal. “With the enhancements incorporated for 2005, this
event is going to reach more communities and help continue the growth in
popularity minor league baseball has seen in recent years. As the nations’
401(k) leader, we are especially excited about introducing the new 401(k)
Challenge Cup.”
The 401(k) Challenge Cup and sweepstakes challenges teams
along the tour route to be the first to record 401 strikeouts at home. The
winning team will receive the 401(k) Challenge Cup and one fan of the winning
team will receive a $5,000 National Grand Prize. Fans can register to win at the
official Principal Family Fun Fest web site (www.principal.com/funfest). To add even more excitement, a
local Grand Prize winner will be selected for each market to receive a complete
Topps Baseball Card set and other prizes. Other new attractions in 2005 include
a giant baseball carousel bounce house and a completely redesigned baseball
museum trailer.
The Principal is sponsoring the tour
through 2006. A list of all cities scheduled for 2005 is attached. To learn more
about the tour visit www.principal.com/funfest.
The Principal Financial
Group (The Principal ®) is a leader in offering businesses, individuals and
institutional clients a wide range of financial products and services, including
retirement and investment services, life and health insurance and banking
through its diverse family of financial services companies. A member of the
Fortune 500, the Principal Financial Group has $168.7 billion in assets under
management and serves some 14.9 million customers worldwide from offices in
Asia, Australia, Europe, Latin America and the United States. Principal
Financial Group, Inc. is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker
symbol PFG. For more information, visit www.principal.com.
Entertainment & Sports
International(ESI) is a partnership of two experienced sports and entertainment
executives who have worked with some of the best known entertainment brands of
the past two decades. From offices in New York and West Palm Beach, Fla., the
company creates and produces distinctive and proprietary sports and
entertainment properties and events. www.esimarketing.com
2005 Principal Family Fun Fest
Schedule:
April
2 Charlotte
Knights Charlotte, NC
7 Tampa Yankees
Tampa, Fla.
9 Clearwater
Threshers Clearwater, Fla.
15
Augusta GreenJackets Augusta, Ga.
17
Columbus Catfish Columbus, Ga.
22
Savannah Sand Gnats Savannah, Ga.
24
Charleston RiverDogs Charleston, Ga.
26
Rome Braves Rome,
Ga.
29 Birmingham Barons Birmingham,
Ala.
May
1 New Orleans Zephyrs New
Orleans, La.
4 Mobile BayBears
Mobile, Al.
6 West Tenn Diamond
Jaxx Jackson, Tn.
13 Memphis
Redbirds Memphis, Tn.
15 Arkansas
Travelers Little Rock, Ark.
20 Oklahoma
RedHawks Oklahoma City,Ok.
29 Tulsa
Drillers Tulsa,
Ok.
June
1 Albuquerque Isotopes
Albuquerque, NM
4 Corpus Christi Hooks
Corpus Christi,Tx
7 Fort Worth Cats
Fort Worth,Tx
11 Midland
RockHounds Midland,Tx
13 Round Rock
Express Round Rock,Tx
14 San Antonio
Missions San Antonio,Tx
17-19 Tucson
Sidewinders Tucson, Az.
24 Las Vegas
51s Las Vegas,
Nev.
July
1 Visalia Oaks
Visalia, Ca.
3 Sacramento River
Cats Sacramento,Ca.
6 RanchoCucamonga
Quakes R.C.Ca.
8 Lake Elsinore Storm Lake
Elsinore,Ca.
10 Fresno Grizzlies Fresno,
Ca.
12 San Jose Giants
San Jose, Ca.
15-16 Salt Lake Stingers
Salt Lake, Utah
18 Colorado Springs Col.
Springs, Co.
20 Omaha Royals
Omaha, Neb.
21 Iowa
Cubs Des Moines,
Iowa
23 Iowa State High School Des
Moines, Iowa
Baseball
Championships
25 St. Paul Saints
St. Paul, Minn.
27 Swing o/t Quad Cities
Davenport, Iowa
29 Cedar Rapids Kernels
Cedar Rapids,Iowa
31 South Bend Silver
Hawks South Bend, Ind.
August
1
West Michigan Whitecaps Comstock Pk, Mi.
3 Schaumburg
Flyers Schaumburg, Ill.
5 Beloit
Snappers
Beloit, Wisc.
8 Columbus Clippers
Columbus, Ohio
9 Akron Aeros
Akron, Ohio
11 Lake County
Captains Eastlake, Ohio
13 Buffalo
Bisons Buffalo,
N.Y.
16 Rochester Red Wings Rochester,
N.Y.
18 Syracuse SkyChiefs Syracuse,
N.Y.
21 Pawtucket Red Sox Pawtucket,
R.I.
23 Wilmington Blue Rocks Wilmington,
Del.
24 Potomac Nationals Potomac,
Va.
26 Winston-Salem Warthogs
Winston-Salem,NC
27 Durham Bulls
Raleigh-Durham,NC
30 Salem
Avalanche Salem,
Va.
September
1 Norfolk
Tides Norfolk, Va.
3
Richmond Braves
Richmond, Va.
5 Hickory
Crawdads Hickory, NC
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/3/prweb219446.htm