Former University of Louisville football star, Teddy Bridgewater, will return to his college hometown to serve as Grand Marshal of this year’s Republic Bank Pegasus Parade. Bridgewater was quarterback for the Cardinals from 2011 to 2013, and is now quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings.

The 60th annual parade is set to march down Broadway on Thursday, April 30th.

“This year’s theme is ‘Best of Louisville’ and we know fans will agree that Teddy is just that,” said Mike Berry, KDF President & CEO. “We are excited to have him back to participate in one of the biggest events in the city each year.”

A Miami native, Bridgewater was considered a four star recruit with 2,606 passing yards and 22 touchdowns his senior year in high school. During his years as a Louisville Cardinal, he was named 2011 Freshman All-American, 2011 Big East Rookie of the Year and 2012 Big East Offensive Player of the Year. He was named MVP at the 2013 Sugar Bowl, where the Cardinals, decided underdogs, defeated the Florida Gators 33-23. His last season at UofL in 2013, he was named MVP of the Russell Athletic Bowl.

On top of the football accolades, Bridgewater became the first in his family to graduate college and walked across the stage in December 2013 to receive a degree in Sports Administration. Following his graduation, Bridgewater was selected by the Minnesota Vikings in the first round of the 2014 NFL draft. The youngest Minnesota Viking, Bridgewater was named the Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Year in his first season.

The annual spectacle marches west on Broadway from Campbell to Ninth Street and will feature approximately 100 units. Tickets for the Parade are on sale now online at www.kdf.org or by calling the Derby Festival Hotline at (502) 584-FEST. Ticket prices are $10 for bleacher seats, $12 chair seating and $30 review stand seats.

The Pegasus Parade – the Derby Festival’s oldest founding event – is one of nearly 70 events produced by the Kentucky Derby Festival in the spring and provides an estimated economic impact of more than $22 million. The annual spectacle marches west on Broadway from Campbell to Ninth Street.

The Derby Festival is an independent community organization supported by 4,000 volunteers, 400 businesses and civic groups, Pegasus Pin sponsorships and event participation. It entertains more than 1.5 million people in a two-week period. This involvement has made the Festival the largest single-attended event in Kentucky and one of the leading community celebrations in the world.

The Indiana Senate voted 46-3 today in favor of an amended version of House Bill 1273, which would lay the framework to secure an 18,000-seat multipurpose stadium in downtown Indianapolis. The stadium would serve as a permanent home for all Indy Eleven Professional Soccer games and potentially more than 30 other sports and entertainment events to be held every year on the Indiana University campus of IUPUI.

“We are thrilled that the Senate’s vote today furthers our goal to secure a proper stadium for ‘the World’s Game’ and all of its passionate supporters from across Indiana,” said Peter Wilt, president and general manager of Indy Eleven. “We look forward to building on this momentum with our partners at Indiana University and IUPUI and working towards a venue plan that will do the City and State proud while boosting Indiana’s economy for all Hoosiers.”

HB 1273 was filed by Indiana State Representative Todd Huston (Fishers – District 37) to extend a sports and entertainment development area to include a future stadium site and a new downtown Indianapolis hotel to be developed by the owner of Indy Eleven for the purpose of reinforcing stadium finances. The multipurpose stadium bill received strong bipartisan support from the Indiana House by a vote of 74-21.

The cost of the project would still be financed through user fees captured at the stadium and, if necessary, the afore-mentioned downtown hotel project.

Now that the legislation has been approved by the Indiana Senate, a conference committee of House and Senate lawmakers will work to finalize legislation for a stadium located on the campus of IUPUI that would be owned by Indiana University and have $20 million of its financing allocated by the State of Indiana.

“We appreciate the thoughtful consideration of the stadium bill by the Senate and their efforts to help create a fiscally responsible solution for a multipurpose stadium in Indianapolis,” said Ersal Ozdemir, owner of Indy Eleven. “The potential to partner with Indiana University to create a first-division-quality stadium that honors the rich heritage of soccer in the Hoosier State is being met with tremendous enthusiasm by our fans.”