The Baseball HOF Saturday will open "One For The Books," a new permanent, $1.25M exhibit on the sport's famous statistical milestones developed in partnership with California-based film production outfit Legendary Entertainment. Billed as the most technologically advanced and interactive exhibit in the hall's 72-year history, "One For The Books" includes two large touch-screen monitors in which visitors can mine through the sport's historical records, and a heavy deployment of video content and other multimedia. The statistical data will be powered by baseballreference.com, owned in part by Big Lead Sports. Legendary Entertainment is the presenting sponsor of “One For The Books,” the first time the HOF has sold such a partnership for a permanent exhibit. Ernst & Young LLP was the presenting sponsor for "Baseball As America," a traveling HOF exhibit that toured the country from '02-08. The Legendary Entertainment deal represented the foundation for a larger capital fundraising campaign for the new exhibit that also included donations from eight MLB teams, five HOFers, and MLB Commissioner Bud Selig and his wife, Sue. "We're beginning to make some real progress and see momentum on the sponsorship front," said HOF President Jeff Idelson, also referencing deals signed recently with EMC Corp. and Coca-Cola. "It's always a bit of a tricky thing for us given that we're a non-profit. But we've developed a model and a great sponsor to fund an important new exhibit, and this is something I'd like to do more of." Baseball HOFers Cal Ripken Jr., Joe Morgan and Phil Niekro will be in Cooperstown Saturday for the exhibit opening. Legendary's film production credits include "The Dark Knight," "Clash Of The Titans," "Inception," and both "Hangover" movies. Company President Thomas Tull is a Steelers minority owner.
