Football Fans To Be Rewarded With Special Las Vegas Prize (NAPSA)—The Arena Football League, whose goal is to be the most fan-friendly league in the world, has kicked off a program that will recognize one loyal follower as the Fan of the Year. That person—along with 16 others representing their favorite teams—will be rewarded with a trip to Las Vegas to attend ArenaBowl XIX. There, the Fan of the Year award will be presented by the exclusive provider of the Arena Football League’s (AFL) official game ball—Spalding. “AFL fans are the best in sports and we want to honor them with this sweepstakes,” said AFL Commissioner David Baker. “The presentation of the Foster Arena Bowl Trophywill now be complete with not only the owner, coaches andplayers on stage, but with the Fanof the Year as well.” Each week, for 13 weeks during the season, one fan will be ran- domly selected as the Fan of the Week for each Arena Football League team. At the end of the season each of these weekly winners will receive a Spalding leather “Coach’s Portfolio” and becomeeligible to win a trip to ArenaBowl XIX Las Vegas. Weekly winners will be announcedevery Friday. One Fan of the Year first-prize winner will be randomly selected from the weekly winners for each AFL team. The 17 team winners will be announcedon Friday, May6. Each team winnerwill receive a trip for two to ArenaBowl XIX Las Vegas, which includes round-trip airfare, four hotel nights, twotick- \ere - *. ~ — Zs - “ty photo credit: Justin Lubin Seventeen lucky fans will join AFL co-owners John Elway(left) and Jon Bon Jovi in Las Vegas for ArenaBowl XIX. ets to the weekend events and a Spalding AFL football. On Sunday, June 12, one fan will be crowned the AFL Fan of the Year presented by Spalding at ArenaBowl XIX Las Vegas and celebrate with his or her ArenaBowl Championship team. The grand-prize winner will receive a VIP postgame celebration with the winning team, a Spalding AFL autographed football and two season tickets for the 2006 regular season. The Arena Football League— the second-longest runningfootball league in U.S. history and known for its “Fans Bill of Rights”—began its 19th season in January. In 2005, the AFL celebrates its third season on NBC anditsfirst season of comprehensive regional broadcasts on Fox Sports Net. To learn moreorto register and sign-up for a personalized fan page, visit the Web site at www.arenafootball.com.
