Don’t laugh: Mascot Hall of Fame looks like a go

The latest sign that mascots are more than just silly business? A planned Mascot Hall of Fame in Whiting, Ind., has signed its first corporate sponsor and has enough municipal funding that groundbreaking is scheduled for the fall, perhaps as soon as September.

The three-story, 25,000-square-foot attraction, designed to attract tourism to the Chicago suburb, is expected to cost around $20 million. Optimistic estimates have it opening as soon as late 2017 and attracting 100,000 visitors annually.

Meanwhile, BP, which has its largest U.S. refinery in the lakefront town, is the first corporate sponsor.

Rendering shows a playful exterior for the hall, planned for Indiana. Rendering: MASCOT HALL OF FAME

The Mascot Hall of Fame, created as a nonprofit city-owned venture, is targeting school kids and families — call it Disneyland for mascots. The hall itself will resemble a giant mascot from the outside. Inside, visitors will be able to don mascot costumes, fire T-shirt cannons and explore the Science of Silliness & Mascot Studies, the Department of Furry Arts, and the Phuzzical Education Department, and attend Mascot University.

“The last thing we wanted to build was a traditional hall of fame — a static building with plaques on the wall,” said Mascot Hall Executive Director Al Spajer, noting that more than 9.5 million people live within an hour’s drive from Whiting.

Tickets will be $8 for kids and $10 for adults.

Jack Rouse Associates, Cincinnati, is designing the exhibits. JRA also designed the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame, The Crayola Experience, and Hormel Foods’ Spam Museum.

Whiting has contributed more than $10 million in land and new construction toward the project.

Brian Connolly, managing principal at Victus Advisors, a management firm hired by the city to analyze the project, said construction is fully funded.

The rest of the money will come from tax revenue from the recent expansion of BP’s refinery; private donations and sponsorship will fund the exhibits.

The project comes as traditional halls of fame, including the recently opened NASCAR Hall of Fame, are struggling to find the right economic model and a leveling off of consumer interest.

David Raymond, the original Phillie Phanatic, started the Mascot Hall of Fame in 2005, partly in reaction to a 2003 incident that seemingly galvanized the mascot community — when Pittsburgh Pirates first baseman Randall Simon tripped one of the racing sausages at a Milwaukee Brewers game.

Since then, that virtual hall — a website that often has online inductions — has inducted 17 characters, including the Phanatic, Wisconsin’s Bucky the Badger, and the San Diego Chicken.

Nonetheless, when Whiting officials called Raymond four years ago, he was initially reluctant about building a brick and mortar hall. But after meeting them, he was convinced.

“Our company will get some benefits from this, but really this is more about following a passion and creating a legacy,” said Raymond, who now heads character branding consultancy Raymond Entertainment Group. Raymond will sit on the hall’s board of directors and will receive licensing revenue for use of his intellectual property, in addition to having one of his mascots serve as the hall’s mascot. In addition, his company will work on certain aspects of the facility’s exhibits.

He estimated that there are around 5,000 costumed mascots in American pro and college sports.

Along with collegiate and pro sports mascots, the hall of fame is open to corporate spokescharacters, which should ensure corporate support.

Rob Yowell’s Gemini Sports, Phoenix, and Rick Jones’ FishBait Marketing, Charleston, S.C., which sold packages for the College Football Hall of Fame, are selling sponsorships. Five-year sponsorship packages range from $50,000 annually for corporate partners to a single presenting sponsor for $350,000 annually.

Yowell said he’s having conversations in the auto, car rental, banking, insurance and quick-service restaurant categories. “Just about any big brand with a corporate mascot,” he said with a laugh.