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 baseballs 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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