Media

Post-9/11 Veterans to Highlight Bleacher Report Big Game Celebration

February 4, 2016
Press

IAVA leaders and members join A-list celebrities and athletes to celebrate vets

SAN FRANCISCO (February 4, 2016) –
Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), the largest nonprofit, nonpartisan organization representing post-9/11 veterans and their families, has been named the beneficiary of the Bleacher Report’s exclusive big game celebration, “Bleacher Ball.” IAVA will join go90™, Bose, Jim Beam® Bourbon, Turner Live Events, CAA Premium Experience and the Grammy Award®-winning Zac Brown Band to raise awareness and support for the nearly three million post-9/11 veterans.

“We are grateful to Bleacher Report and all of the event sponsors for providing this amazing platform that allows us to highlight our nation’s heroes,” said IAVA Founder and CEO Paul Rieckhoff. “The Zac Brown Band has always had veterans’ backs, and we are thrilled to be working with them to celebrate the men and women who served. We look forward to continuing our engagement with these outstanding American businesses and applaud their extraordinary support of America’s veteran community. This is more than a celebration and a benefit for IAVA; this is a tremendous opportunity for IAVA to raise awareness of the post-9/11 veterans movement and let everyone know that vets are rising.”

The invitation-only “Bleacher Ball” will be held Friday, February 5, at 9 p.m. PST at Mezzanine in San Francisco.

Zac Brown Band and guests include Conan O’Brien, Andi Dorfman, Alyssa Milano, J.J. Watt (Houston Texans), Tony Romo (Dallas Cowboys), Jason Witten (Dallas Cowboys), Anquan Boldin (San Francisco 49ers), Alex Smith (Kansas City Chiefs), Aaron Donald (Los Angeles Rams), Tyler Eifert (Cincinnati Bengals), Yousef Erakat (YouTube Star/FouseyTube) and many more in attendance.

Joining Rieckhoff at the celebration will be IAVA co-founder and Western Regional Director David Chasteen. In addition, IAVA veteran members will attend the celebration as special guests and will escort some of the celebrity guests down the red carpet. Jim Beam® will present IAVA with a monetary donation on site.

About Bleacher Report
Bleacher Report is the social voice of sports – creating and collaborating on the culture of sports for the next generation of fans. Its vision for making sports bigger than games has led to unmatched engagement on social media, where it consistently ranks as the No. 1 publisher. Bleacher Report also provides an industry-leading fan experience on mobile devices through Team Stream™, the top-rated smartphone and tablet app. Find Bleacher Report on the web at www.bleacherreport.com and on Instagram @BleacherReport. Bleacher Report is a division of Turner Sports.

About CAA Premium Experience
Formed in 2015, CAA Premium Experience is a best-in-class, full-service hospitality, event management and marketing practice with more than 50 employees working with Fortune 500 companies across hundreds of global sports and entertainment events annually. A division of CAA Sports, CAA Premium Experience combines the creativity, innovation, and state-of-the-art client service of the world’s most accomplished corporate hospitality executives and organizations with CAA’s unmatched resources and relationships within entertainment, sports, and pop culture to deliver full-service hospitality, event management, and world-class VIP experiences for customers globally. CAA Premium Experience is a division of leading entertainment and sports agency, Creative Artists Agency (CAA).

About Zac Brown Band
Three-time GRAMMY winners and multi-platinum artists Zac Brown Band have become one of music’s most heralded acts. Their latest gold-certified album JEKYLL + HYDE, out now on Southern Ground Artists/John Varvatos Records/Big Machine Label Group/Republic Records, marks the band’s third consecutive #1 debut on the Billboard 200 chart. Together with their three platinum-selling albums, Uncaged, You Get What You Give, and The Foundation, and their 2013 project The Grohl Sessions Vol. 1, the band has sold over eight million albums to date. On the radio, the band has earned a historic series of fourteen #1 hit radio singles and became only the second artist to top both the country and active rock formats. This year alone, “Homegrown”, the band’s first single off of JEKYLL + HYDE, earned the title of the “No. 1 most-heard song of 2015” according to Mediabase. Zac Brown Band recently wrapped their largest North American Stadium Tour to date, which included two history making performances – a first ever sold-out, three-night run at Fenway Park, and the first-ever concert at Coors Field along with performances at Wrigley Field, Nationals Park, Citi Field, Comerica Park and Citizen’s Bank Park. Zac Brown Band is managed by ROAR, a Beverly Hills-based artist and brand management company. The band is also represented by CAA, public relations firm Shore Fire Media and strategic digital marketing agency Girlilla Marketing. Additional information can be found at www.zacbrownband.com.

About go90
go90 is a free, mobile-first, social entertainment platform that makes it easy and fun to discover, enjoy and share great content. Available on iOS and Android, go90 is part of the Verizon Communications family of companies. Built for the next generation, go90 brings together networks, distributors, creators, audiences and brands to deliver great experiences for the next generation. For more check out www.go90.com.