Batter Up! The Principal Financial Group Announces Season Two Of The Most Extensive Traveling Minor League Baseball Tour In History
March 23, 2005 (Des Moines, Iowa) - The Principal Financial Group® is 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. The Principal Family Fun Fest is produced by Entertainment & Sports International, Inc. (ESI).
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 more teams and dates for 2005, add new attractions and the creation of the exciting new 401-K Challenge Cup and sweepstakes.
"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. This challenge will create awareness to the hundreds of thousands of fans attending the festival about the importance of saving for retirement, as well as incorporate a fun competition among teams and their fans," added Houston.
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 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."
For the Principal Financial Group, the sponsorship broadens the reach of their community support and it offers a unique opportunity for local sales and service teams to reward and entertain existing customers and brokers as well as establish new sales leads. The tour provides The Principal with an opportunity to reach their audience through hospitality events, tickets to the games, local advertising, promotions and public relations as well as special activities with the teams and players.
As title sponsor, the Principal Financial Group will receive prominent logo and company placement in all marketing, advertising and promotion materials associated with the tour and individual events. Their company logo will also be displayed on signage throughout the midway area including the giant 20-foot inflatable baseball player that is the centerpiece of the midway. Additionally, The Principal will receive tickets, advertising on the giant movie screen prior to the film, hospitality at each event and a wide variety of other benefits designed to help them achieve their national and local marketing, public relations and sales objectives.
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.
About The Principal Financial Group
The Principal Financial Group®
(The Principal)®1
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 management2
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 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.
2005 Principal Family Fun Fest Schedule - Tour Itinerary by Date
1) "The Principal Financial Group®"
and "The Principal®" are registered
service marks of Principal Financial Services, Inc., a member of the Principal
Financial Group.
2) As of December 31, 2004
