DISH Network has announced that seven of eight contestants selected to compete in the DISH Network Ultimate Football Fan Contest have unofficially set a new Guinness World Record for watching TV the longest. If substantiated by Guinness World Record officials, the new record will be 70 hours.
Eight fans from rival football teams began watching TV on Sunday, Sept. 24 at 11:07 a.m. at the Wynkoop Brewing Company in Denver. Their ultimate goal: to attempt to break the current Guinness World Record for watching TV the longest???set at 69 hours and 48 minutes???and earn a trip to the 2007 Pro Bowl in Hawaii, courtesy of NFL Network. But in an unexpected show of camaraderie, teamwork and good sportsmanship, seven contestants formed an alliance halfway through the event to help fend off sleep so they could break the record together.
"We decided early on that we could all work together to break the record, so we set aside our personal goals to join in this pact so everyone would turn out a winner," said Dallas' Ultimate Football Fan Chris Chambers. "I'm really looking forward to seeing the other guys in Hawaii."
The contestants were seated shoulder-to-shoulder in La-Z-Boy recliners watching non-stop football broadcast on flat-screen HDTVs. Charlotte's Ultimate Fan, John Dickson "Trey" McMillan III, elected to be the first one to voluntarily exit the contest. As the hours passed and fatigue set in, the remaining seven somehow found a way to put aside long-standing team rivalries so they could encourage each other to go the distance. Shortly after surpassing the current record at 8:55 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 27, the seven remaining contestants held on until 9:07 a.m.???a full 70 hours???before looking away from their TVs at exactly the same time.
This show of solidarity inspired DISH Network to award all seven contestants a trip to the 2007 Pro Bowl. "These seven fans epitomize the very spirit of what football is all about???teamwork, fortitude and mental toughness," said Jody Martin, senior vice president of marketing for DISH Network.
All eight contestants who participated in the event will take home the La-Z-Boy recliner they sat in for three days, a 37-inch Akai HDTV from Radio Shack, a DISH Network HD receiver and DishHD programming for a year.
Read more in the DISH Network press release.
