NFL contest to award 2 season tickets for 100 years

NEW YORK (AP) — In what the NFL is calling a “Fantennial” celebration, the league will present two season tickets for the next century to a contest winner as part of the 100th season of play.

In addition to awarding one person two tickets to his or her team of choice for 100 years, the winner can pass the tickets down through future generations while also having access to exclusive team experiences and an NFL Shop lifetime discount.

“The NFL was built on multi-generational fandom that bonds people together,” Commissioner Roger Goodell said Thursday. “Giving someone a century’s worth of NFL season tickets may be the single greatest sports prize ever offered to a fan. It represents 100 years filled with incredible memories to share with the people who matter most.”

The league was created in 1920 in Canton, Ohio, under the name American Professional Football Association, and had 14 franchises. The name changed to National Football League in 1922.

To win the tickets for the next 100 years, fans must describe their loyalty to their favorite team in a social media post (@NFL and #NFL100Contest in an Instagram post of a picture or video, or in a tweet). The contest opened Thursday and closes April 7. Three finalists will be flown to Nashville, Tennessee, site of the draft, and the winner will be announced during the first round draft on April 25.

“Our research finds that almost half of all NFL fans with a favorite team are multi-generational, meaning that at least one of their parents was also a fan of that team,” said Julie Haddon, the league’s senior vice president of global brand and consumer marketing. “Those family strong bonds can strengthen a fan’s feeling that they are a part of their favorite team.”