Football fans raise money for Carmel athletes

7th Annual Pro Football Championship Party

Football fans raise money for Carmel athletes

Sunday’s NFL Conference Championship games will decide who goes on to the Super Bowl, but the real winners could be the people who come out to support Carmel’s athletic programs at the Pro Football Championship Party.

Four giant projection screens will bring all of the action of the 3:05 p.m. NFC Championship game between fourth-seeded Green Bay and second-seeded Atlanta at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. Third-seeded Pittsburgh will try to defeat number-one New England in the late game at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, MA, that kicks off at around 6:40 p.m.

The doors to the Salvi Arena open at 1:00 p.m. for the over-21 crowd to enjoy drinks and snacks early on and dinner later on in the evening. The $100 ticket price admits two people and serves as one entry in the cash raffle with a top prize of $10,000.

There is a one-in-ten chance for ticket holders to win prizes ranging from $250 to the grand prize and people wishing to support the program do not need to be present to win big.

The pros won’t the only ones who will be competing. Each Carmel sport is participating in a contest to sell the most raffle tickets for their team. Each sport that sells 10 tickets will receive $500 toward its teams. 20 tickets translates into a $1000 bump to that sport’s budget.

Last year softball was the big winner, but many sports still earned prizes big prizes.

Proceeds from this event help fund the purchase of uniforms, equipment for training and competitions, and aid with improvements to athletic facilities.

This is the 18th year that the Athletic Club has worked to raise money for Carmel Athletics and the group has been able to donate more than $500,000 to all of the programs.

Athletic Director Andy Bitto anticipates that more than 300 tickets will be sold and said that the big winners are Carmel’s student athletes.

“We are looking to create an atmosphere where Carmel Athletic supporters can have a lot of fun while raising money for Carmel sports,” Bitto said.