Menu
Download the app

SBJ subscribers – Enhance your experience with the revamped iOS app

Collegiate Sports

NCAA FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME LOOKS TO SECURE FINANCIAL FOOTING

          The College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, IN, "is
     struggling" with attendance, as Exec Dir Bernie Kish said
     that early projections were "overly ambitious" and corporate
     sponsorship "hasn't approached the levels officials had
     envisioned," according to Teddy Greenstein of the CHICAGO
     TRIBUNE.  The Hall recorded an operating loss of "more than"
     $660,000 in '96, its inaugural year.  Although city officials
     originally promised that no taxpayer money would be used, the
     city has already contributed "about" $1.6M.  The National
     Football Foundation (NFF) has also provided $1M, which
     Greenstein writes "may be just a start."  The Hall is
     projecting '97 attendance at 65,000 -- down from the 120,000
     visitors in its first year (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 11/18).
          CORPORATE ISSUES: The Hall had "hoped to line up seven
     major sponsors" at $1M each, but deals were made with Alka-
     Selzer, Coca-Cola, Burger King and the U.S. Postal Service,
     totalling just $1.725M.  Kish: "It has been surprising.  The
     feeling was that corporate sponsors were going to be a piece
     of cake."  With a $400,000 marketing budget, the Hall will
     advertise on billboards and in Chicago newspapers and radio
     stations.  Officials are seeking NCAA approval for an annual
     Hall of Fame game to be played in August.  Greenstein added
     that "despite all the effort, the Hall shows no sign of
     breaking even anytime soon," and that without a "dramatic
     increase" in sponsors, taxpayers will see the annual
     contribution rise from $1.2M to $2M (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 11/18).

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/1997/11/19/Collegiate-Sports/NCAA-FOOTBALL-HALL-OF-FAME-LOOKS-TO-SECURE-FINANCIAL-FOOTING.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/1997/11/19/Collegiate-Sports/NCAA-FOOTBALL-HALL-OF-FAME-LOOKS-TO-SECURE-FINANCIAL-FOOTING.aspx

CLOSE