NFL and American Heart Association Award Super Bowl Tickets, Equipment Grants to Boost Youth CPR Training
The NFL and American Heart Association's partnership is expanding lifesaving CPR education in schools through incentive programs that have already rewarded students with Super Bowl tickets and schools with equipment grants, addressing the critical need for bystander intervention in cardiac emergencies.
The National Football League Foundation and American Heart Association have announced the winners of their collaborative initiative to promote Hands-Only CPR training among students, awarding five students with tickets to Super Bowl LX and five schools with $10,000 equipment grants. The incentive program, which ran during the 2024-25 school year, rewarded participants in the Association's Kids Heart Challenge and American Heart Challenge programs who completed CPR training modules.
The student winners from Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Florida, Texas, and Washington will attend Super Bowl LX at Levi's Stadium in February 2026, while schools in Arkansas, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, California, and Minnesota received funding for physical activity equipment upgrades. This initiative addresses a critical public health need, as more than 350,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occur annually in the United States, with 70% happening at home. Immediate CPR can double or triple survival chances, yet more than half of cardiac arrest victims don't receive timely intervention.
Nancy Brown, chief executive officer of the American Heart Association, emphasized that "through the generous incentives provided by the NFL we are working together to motivate more students to complete the Hands-Only CPR module and share what they learned with their families, expanding awareness of how to respond in a cardiac emergency." The partnership represents a significant step toward the Association's goal of doubling cardiac emergency survival rates by 2030.
The program's impact is amplified by featuring Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin, a cardiac arrest survivor, in an introductory video that appears before the online CPR learning module. Hamlin's personal experience underscores the lifesaving potential of CPR training. The NFL Foundation has renewed its commitment for the 2025-2026 school year, offering another round of Super Bowl tickets and equipment grants through the Hands-Only CPR module called Finn's Mission. Parents and educators can learn more about participation at heart.org/schools.
Beyond CPR training, the Kids Heart Challenge program incorporates various physical activities like dance and basketball, recognizing the connection between physical and mental health. The American Heart Association encourages broader participation through its Nation of Lifesavers initiative, offering free resources at www.heart.org/nation. Alexia Gallagher, NFL Vice President of Philanthropy, stated that "by empowering the next generation with these lifesaving skills, we are not only strengthening the chain of survival today, but also helping to build healthier, safer communities for the future."