This week, as pro football fans flock to Minneapolis for the season’s championship bout, Minnesota-based Rapala® USA and WCCO-TV have joined forces to celebrate the Big Game with the MinneCentric Rooftop Experience, a charitable activation that has transformed WCCO-TV’s downtown Minneapolis rooftop into a one-of-a-kind ice-fishing village, complete with an ice bar, curling sheet, warming house and — most importantly — an icehouse studio stocked with live perch, northern pike, trout and panfish ready to be hooked and reeled through the ice by visiting celebrities, pro athletes and notable media personalities.
Designed to celebrate the Big Game and give visiting fans a look at the Minnesotan lifestyle, ice fishing at the MinneCentric Rooftop Experience, which is now live, will raise money for Twin Cities charity Athletes Committed to Educating Students (ACES) through Feb. 4.
Each fish caught on the WCCO-TV rooftop will trigger a donation supporting ACES’ mission of reducing the academic achievement gap in the Twin Cities and improving the likelihood of success for underserved students, regardless of their racial or socioeconomic background. Participating celebrity and athlete ice anglers will land each charitable catch with iconic Rapala ice lures, such as the legendary Rapala Jigging Rap®, as well as live bait.
“Rapala is proud to call the Land of 10,000 Lakes home, and we’re thrilled to add to the excitement of the Big Game coming to Minnesota with this unique ice-fishing experience,” says Matt Jensen, director of marketing at Rapala USA. “We’re hopeful funds raised through the MinneCentric Rooftop Experience will make a big impact on ACES’ cause and on the lives of youth throughout the Twin Cities. It’s a great opportunity to show visiting fans what ‘Minnesota Nice’ is all about.”
Rapala’s Minnesota heritage dates back to the 1950s, when two Minneapolis entrepreneurs and avid anglers, Ron Weber and Ray Ostrom, helped to introduce Rapala’s iconic lures to the United States and revolutionize modern sport fishing in the process. Over the 60+ years that would follow, Rapala became a central figure in the community, both on the water and ice and off. The brand’s U.S. headquarters and distribution centers are in Minnetonka and Eagan, Minnesota, each a short drive from the site of pro football’s 52nd championship matchup.
The brand’s partnership with WCCO-TV and the MinneCentric Rooftop Experience will also offer fans nationwide the chance to win all the gear needed for an authentic Minnesotan ice-fishing experience with the Rapala Sweepstakes. The sweepstakes’ grand prize-winner will receive a StrikeMaster® Honda™ 35cc LITE 8-inch Auger, a MarCum® M1 Lithium Shuttle Combo, a Polaris® Generator P1000i, a Rapala Lithium ION Cordless Fillet Knife Combo, Rapala apparel and a $500 Rapala VIP Merchandise Credit Card redeemable at Rapala.com. Visit RapalaSweepstakes.com to enter and find full sweepstakes details.
For more information on Rapala, please visit Rapala.com or Facebook.com/RapalaUSA. To learn more about the MinneCentric Rooftop Experience, head to WCCO.com/MinneCentric.
About Rapala:
Rapala was unofficially founded in 1936 when Lauri Rapala invented the Rapala fishing lure and has grown from humble beginnings to become a market leader in the fishing tackle industry. The brand’s functionality and high quality are known by anglers worldwide. Rapala maintains its strict standards of craftsmanship while delivering its fishing products to anglers in more than 140 countries around the world.