The Top 6 Events At the Bud Light Fan Camp

My assignment this past weekend was to travel to Chicago to witness the Bud Light NFL Fan Camp for the greater Chicago area, which was held on Saturday at Joliet Junior College, in Joliet, Illinois. 

Bud Light became the exclusive beer sponsor of the NFL this year, and their exclusive contract with the NFL runs through 2016.  The Bud Light Fan Camp is a fun activity that allows adult NFL fans a taste of what a mini-football training camp would be like, with a Bud Light spin to it. All contestants must be 21 years of age to participate in the event. Teams can either register at Facebook by clicking on the link here, or by showing up the morning of the event and registering in person.

Depending on the location, and venue availability, the competition is conducted over one day (like Joliet was) or over an entire weekend. Teams are made up of four competitors, two males and two females. Teams show up and register in the morning and use that time to practice their skills at six different stations that test their football skills, but all events are designed to have fun. All teams advance to the finals, which were held in the afternoon. The level of competition was ratcheted up many notches because of what was at stake.

What was at stake? Check out the presentation to find out.

$50,000.00 Worth of Prizes for the Finals Championship Team

Whichever team wins their local competition, will win a free trip to the 2012 Pro Bowl in Honolulu, Hawaii and the ability to represent their city in the grand finale competition at Aloha Stadium, which will be held the day after the Pro Bowl.

Since Bud Light is holding the Fan Camp in 60 cities, there will be 60 teams going to Hawaii for the finals. The lucky team that wins the finals competition will receive $50,000. worth of prizes, which includes: tickets for the 2011 and 2012 Pro Bowl games, the 2012 Hall of Fame Game, and 2012 season tickets for the city that they represent.

That is quite a haul for having some fun on a weekend. I suspect that this event will attract larger crowds as word of the Bud Light Fan Camp circulates around the country. 

Behind the Idea of Bud Light Fan Camp

In Joliet, I met with Patrick Clifton, Senior District Manager in Chicago Field Sales for Anheuser-Busch, Inc. and Tom DeFacci, of City Beverage, who is Sales Manager for the local Anheuser-Busch Distributor. In talking to them, I learned that the idea behind the Bud Light Fan Camp was an idea from their brand team. It was designed to be an interaction for the average NFL fan.

"This is a joint venture between Bud Light and the NFL. It was created to kick off Bud Light becoming the exclusive rights beer sponsor for the NFL this year and to use the NFL logo on our beer. We are going through every NFL city to create the Fan Camp for a fun weekend, and is a good way for young contemporary adults to relate with Bud Light and the NFL in a fun way."

"The original feedback has been very positive. We are learning from experience as we go to each new Fan Camp. We were pleased to find that Joliet Junior College was available to serve as host to the Chicago-area teams."

Here Is the Rundown of the Six Stations

There are six stations each player will compete on. The better you do at each station, the more points you will score for your team. This slide shows a picture of the EA SPORTS MADDEN NFL 12 station.

Quick Kick - There are three different distances to kick the ball through the Bud Light goal posts. The closer the kick, the fewer the points. The farther out the kick, the more points you score for your team.

Gaming Area - This is where teams square off to play EA SPORTS MADDEN NFL 12. There are four separate games ready to roll, so one team can face off against the members of a second team.

Flag Frenzy Football - All players sit on a big bouncy ball, complete with a handle. Holding on to the grip with one hand at all times, the players bounce around the field trying to get open for a pass. The free hand is gloved, and with strips of velcro on the glove, catch a football that also has velcro strips. Once the player catches a pass, they bounce toward the goal line, until somebody removes a flag off their belt.

Precision Pass - Holding a Bud Light bottle in one hand, contestants throw at four targets of varying distances. The furthest away target is moving on a track. If you hit that one, that is where you rack up the most points.

Blue Route Relay - This is like an obstacle course with a catch. You have to carry a tray filled with Bud Light bottles while you run a relay race up and down a football obstacle course.

Cannon Catch - You wear an over-sized Bud Light plastic helmet and catch passes of varying distance and speed that are coming out a jugs machine (baseball pitching machine). Ball can come out fast, so be ready !!

Quick Kick Station

You can see the huge Bud Light bottle goal posts, and a yellow net is stretched between the posts.

The various distances used for the contest are spread out at five-yard intervals. Contestants are kicking the Bud Light blue rubber ball. It is smaller than a regulation NFL football. If you were able to make a kick from the "30", you stood a good chance to help your team win that station.

Flag Frenzy Station

The video will give you an idea of what to do. Because of the tighter field, it is difficult to run any real plays to speak of. The bouncy balls are wide enough that you couldn't pick off the defender on a pick play, nor is there enough room to run trips to one side.

This is intended to be a fun event, not a physical one. Blocking is discouraged. Just have fun and roll with the bounces.

Precision Passing Station

In the foreground, you will see the picture of the tray filled with bottles of Bud Light that competitors must carry when they are running on the Obstacle Course Relay Races. Behind the tray with the bottles, you will see the targets for the precision passing. These targets run back and forth on a track, but the 40-point target is the hardest one to hit.

Use your practice time in the morning to determine if you are better at hitting the 10 and 20 point targets, or if you have the arm strength and accuracy to go after the 30 or 40 point targets.

Blue Route Relay Station

This video will give you a very good idea of what the obstacle course is all about. Running in and out of the blocking pads, hitting the dummy bag, picking up your knees to run through the rope ladder, are all things you can find in the NFL training camps.

Doing all of these activities with a tray of beer bottles in your hand is not usually part of the routine, but that is what makes this event fun.

Cannon Catch Video

After you go through each station in the practice time allowed, you will get a better handle on the speed of the passes coming out of the pitching machine. Keeping your helmet on is one of the more challenging requirements of this station.

Here is one of our competitors, who was able to catch the first three passes, but then dropped the easiest of the four passes, the last one.

To the Victor Go the Spoils

Here is the winning team for the Bud Light Fan Camp in Chicago. You don't have to be very big or strong, but it helps if you are athletic. We have taken you inside the Bud Light Fan Camp, so now you have a much better idea on what you need to do in your preparation for the big day.

They are all smiles, because they are headed to Hawaii in January for the NFL Pro Bowl game, and for a chance to win the grand prize.

If you missed out on this year's event at your city, keep an eye out for next year, because I expect that this competition will be even bigger and better next year.

Check back after the Pro Bowl to see which team won the final competition.