San Diego Chargers Join National Movement to Tackle Melanoma

SAN DIEGO, July 22, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The San Diego Chargers are excited to announce the team's new partnership with Melanoma Exposed™ Screen. Protect. Know. Tell., a national campaign that will be offering free skin cancer screenings at Chargers Park on Saturday, July 27. Attendees who get screened will win a free prize from the Chargers.

Melanoma Exposed is an educational campaign – led by melanoma advocacy groups, former pro football Coach Bill Cowher and Bristol-Myers Squibb – that aims to raise awareness of melanoma and its risk factors and encourage people to get screened. Since the campaign's inception in 2012, more than 2,000 people have been screened for melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer. Now, with the help of the Chargers, fans will have an opportunity to get screened and learn how to protect themselves.

"We are proud to take part in this program because it helps our fans become more knowledgeable about the risk factors of this preventable disease," said A.G. Spanos, the team's chief executive officer. "Living in San Diego where it's almost always sunny, we know how critical it is to protect ourselves from sun exposure, with players and coaches spending so many hours outside. It's important that our fans learn and take the same precautions and take advantage of the free melanoma screenings and educational information available at the event."

California residents need to be especially careful, as UV rays – like those from the sun – are a risk factor for melanoma. California ranks number one in new diagnoses annually, with more than 8,500 new cases expected in 2013.

"I was diagnosed with skin cancer two years ago, and it changed my life," said Todd Poulsen, the team's senior director of ticket sales and services. "I never paid attention to the effects of sun exposure prior to my diagnosis and spent a lot of time outdoors attending sporting events, boating and riding my motorcycle. But after four different procedures to remove skin cancer, I think about it every day. It turns out that things as simple as wearing a hat and reapplying sunscreen multiple times daily, in addition to getting screened regularly, can help protect you. It is information like this that I wish I knew earlier and that Chargers fans are now getting an opportunity to learn about from Melanoma Exposed."

A team of licensed dermatologists will be conducting free skin cancer screenings during the July 27 training camp practice.

For more information about Melanoma Exposed, and to learn more about melanoma risk factors, visit www.MelanomaExposed.com. Visitors can share what they have learned with family and friends by using the interactive tools on the website, and test their melanoma knowledge (and football skills) by playing Goalpost Avenue, an online educational game coached by Coach Cowher, also available as a free app for tablets.

About the Melanoma Exposed Campaign
Melanoma Exposed is a public awareness campaign designed to educate Americans about melanoma and its risk factors and encourage them to take a more active role in their skin health, which may include receiving routine skin cancer screenings by a dermatologist and performing regular skin self-exams. The Melanoma Exposed campaign is a partnership with the Melanoma International Foundation, Melanoma Research Alliance, Melanoma Research Foundation, and The Skin Cancer Foundation, and is sponsored by Bristol-Myers Squibb. For more information about the campaign, visit www.MelanomaExposed.com.

About the San Diego Chargers
The San Diego Chargers, purchased by construction leader and real estate developer Alex G. Spanos in 1984, originated as the Los Angeles Chargers of the American Football League in 1960.  The team relocated to San Diego in 1961 and captured the American Football League championship in 1963.  The Chargers joined the National Football League in 1970 as part of the AFL-NFL merger.  Since 1970, the Chargers have won 10 AFC West division titles, including five titles in the last nine seasons.  The team has played in 26 playoff games.  In 1994 under the guidance of Spanos' eldest son Dean, now the team's Chairman of the Board-President, the Chargers won the AFC Championship and played in Super Bowl XXIX.  The Chargers are Southern California's only NFL franchise and all Chargers games are annually the highest-rated telecasts in San Diego.  The Chargers play their home games at Qualcomm Stadium and the Spanos family has invested millions of dollars in its efforts to secure a new Super Bowl-quality stadium for San Diego.  The Spanos family also is nationally renowned as one of San Diego's and the NFL's most philanthropic families.

Chargers contact:
(858) 874-4500

Melanoma Exposed contact:
Meghan Campbell
(212) 880-5284

SOURCE The San Diego Chargers