ROCKFORD — The Rockford Area Convention & Visitors Bureau (RACVB) is proud to announce Toronto Raptors guard and Rockford native Fred VanVleet has committed to represent the Rockford region as a Sports Tourism Ambassador for a second-straight year.

VanVleet will continue to be featured in RACVB’s Bring Your Game 2 Rockford (BYG2RKFD) marketing campaign, which will include a variety of advertisements, promotions and events.

“This past year, Fred has proven himself on the court for the Raptors while also contributing and giving back to Rockford and its youth. We’re excited to partner with him for another year, we know the benefits will be mutual and many,” said John Groh, RACVB president/CEO. “Fred is known for his drive, skill and commitment to being the best he can be – on and off the court.

Those attributes align well with Rockford and our sports tourism capabilities and partners. His role as our ambassador amplifies those characteristics with potential customers and also with local kids who look up to Fred.”

The 2018 event lineup begins with the “Fred VanVleet Bobblehead Night” at the Rockford IceHogs game happening at the BMO Harris Bank Center on Saturday, February 17 starting at 6 p.m. The first 2,500 people in attendance will receive their very own Fred VanVleet bobblehead, and the RACVB will have an information booth at the game to answer questions about the partnership as well as plans for the BYG2RKFD campaign.

“This sports tourism partnership is really about celebrating Rockford’s sports heroes and to ensure we are integrating their stories into our sports marketing and sales programs,” said Nick Povalitis, RACVB director of sports development. “The more we do that the more our residents and visitors will benefit from the success of our outreach.”

In addition, RACVB and VanVleet will team up to host other sports-related events including the return of the FVV Fan Fest in Summer 2018, which will coincide with VanVleet’s summer basketball camp.

The Bring Your Game 2 Rockford marketing campaign also includes a series of ads in sports tourism industry magazines and e-blast messages that directly target tournament and event promoters.

RACVB continues to establish creative ways to attract the attention of these sports leaders, and this year developed a BYG2RKFD Think Pad designed to act as a “playbook” for sports event planners to create new ideas and jot down notes. Its benefits are two-fold as it also includes great imagery, sports facts and stories on select pages about some of the Rockford region’s most successful athletes, facilities and programs past and present.

Learn more about sports in the Rockford region and watch the video at gorockford.com/sports.

–RACVB