St. Louis Rams Quarterback Sam Bradford, State Treasurer Zweifel and Visa Inc ... - STLtoday.com

Money Management Video Game to Improve the Financial Literacy of Missouri Teenagers As Part of Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago’s Money Smart Week

Tackling head on the issue of improving financial literacy among Missouri teens Rams Quarterback Sam Bradford, State Treasurer Clint Zweifel and Visa Inc. gathered today highlight an effort to improve the money management skills of high school and middle school students. This free educational video game and classroom curriculum, called Financial Football, was developed by Visa Inc. 

Treasurer Zweifel kicked off this financial literacy event today at the Cardinal Ritter College Prep High School in St. Louis with help from Bradford and Visa officials. Bradford shared his personal experiences on the importance of money management with students. Bradford and Zweifel then rolled up their sleeves and led student teams in a hard-fought, high energy game of Financial Football with the students of Cardinal Ritter College Prep.

“Financial Football is a smart fiscal playbook these students can put to use now and for the rest of their lives,” said State Treasurer Zweifel “. It cannot be stressed enough â€" to be a successful, productive adult, financial literacy is critical. This is a valuable program and a great partnership between my office, Visa, and the NFL.”

The centerpiece of Visa’s nationwide educational initiative with the NFL and NFL PLAYERS, Financial Football helps students and adults tackle their financial futures. This free game is accompanied by a classroom curriculum. 

“Whether they have 1 dollar or 1 million dollars, kids need to learn how to make smart money management decisions early in life,” said Bradford. “It’s important to have a combined effort from parents, teachers and mentors within the community to give teenagers a strong background in personal finance.” 

This event is part of 2012 Money Smart Week. Money Smart Week is an outreach program of the Federal Reserve Bank and is an effort to highlight financial education with a variety of opportunities offered by hundreds of business and community partners.

“Never has financial education been more important,” Alejo Torres of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago said. “Money Smart Week is an annual event that truly makes a difference in the lives of consumers.  Financial Football is precisely the type of educational program that helps make Money Smart Week a success.”

Available online, at www.missouri.financialfootball.com, Financial Football puts students’ fiscal knowledge to the test in an online simulation game environment by combining the structure and rules of the NFL with financial education questions of varying difficulty. Visa has also released the game as a free iPhone app on iTunes, along with an optimized HD iPad version.

“For over a decade, Visa has been committed to promoting financial literacy and we are proud to assist Treasurer Zweifel in his efforts to strengthen financial education,” said Jason Alderman, Senior Director of Global Financial Education, Visa Inc.

This launch is part of a national educational campaign with Visa, the NFL and NFL PLAYERS, now in its seventh season. Since 2006, Visa has reached agreements with thirty-four states and the District of Columbia to distribute Financial Football to every high school and middle school in those states, including Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin.

Financial Football is part of Practical Money Skills for Life (www.practicalmoneyskills.com) a free, award-winning financial education program that reaches millions of people around the world each year. Launched in 1995, the program is now available in ten languages in thirty countries. At Practical Money Skills for Life, educators, parents and students can access free educational resources including personal finance articles, games, lesson plans, and more. Visa also runs What’s My Score (www.whatsmyscore.org), a leading higher education consumer awareness program.