College Hall of Fame: who's paying for it?

By Leon Stafford and Doug Roberson

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The College Football Hall of Fame made its formal introduction to Atlanta Thursday.

The confetti had barely hit the floor before the question begged: who's getting the tab?

Corporate sponsorships of exhibits will play a crucial role in financing the hall, which is relocating from South Bend Ind., in 2012, said Gary Stokan, who led a five-year effort to snag what the museum.

The building, which officials hope will be constructed around Centennial Olympic Park Drive, will cost about $50 million.

While more than $10 million has been committed from public and private sources, Stokan said he is hoping to tap help from corporate America, including Fortune 500 rich Atlanta.

“That’s how we’ll raise money,” said Stokan, president of the Chick-fil-A Bowl, which will oversee the museum’s operations.

The newly-won prize was made official at a press conference at Buckhead’s ESPN Zone, complete with a blast of confetti, a drumline from Morris Brown College and hall of famers Georgia Coach Vince Dooley and Florida State’s Ron Simmons in attendance. Televisions flashed the countdown for the 1,000-plus days until the museum’s opening.

The hall is being moved in hopes of jump starting its attendance, which had waned for the majority of the 15 years it has been in South Bend. Atlanta boosters think the facility can attract at least 500,000 visitors annually here. They cited the South’s devotion to football and said locating it at Centennial Olympic Park would take advantage of nearby attractions such as the Georgia Dome and the World of Coca-Cola.

Steve Hatchell, president of the National Football Foundation and the College Football Hall, thanked Atlanta for the future, and South Bend, Ind., for the past.

“Coming to Atlanta gives us a showpiece and an ability to create a platform that’s very different than anything we’ve had in the past,” Hatchell said.

He joked later that he was glad Gov. Sonny Perdue, who taped a message for the event because he is on an economic development trip to Panama, wasn’t at the press conference because he didn’t have to write him a letter informing him that he’s not getting into the hall. Perdue, a walk-on at Georgia, admitted as much during his message.

The challenge ahead for Atlanta will be soliciting sports marketing dollars in a tough economy, leaders in the industry said.

Financial commitments the hall has received include $5 million from the Chick-fil-A Bowl and $5 million from the corporate offices of Atlanta-based fast-food giant Chick-fil-A. The Atlanta Development Authority is giving a $1 million grant and offering $10 million in credits. Sun Trust Bank has also agreed to invest.

The sources of other funding, including the state's commitment, is unclear.

“Right now is a terrible environment for sponsorships,” said Tim Calkins, a branding expert from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. Companies are reluctant to spend, he added, on anything that doesn’t have an immediate impact.

That could change once the nation is past the next six months if companies start to feel better about the economy in 2010, he said.

Tim Mescon, president of Columbus State University, said the environment may be tough but it can be done. He said he would look for sponsors in insurance or sports medicine, industries that have strong football connections, but aren’t traditional advertisers in the field.

If hall officials can demonstrate a solid return on investment, companies will support it monetarily no matter the economy, said Mark Newton, program director of the hotel, restaurant and tourism management program at Gwinnett Tech. And because of the track record set by the Georgia Aquarium and World of Coke, which have pulled in millions of visitors, Newton thinks hall officials will have little trouble.

“It’s a good investment because college football is big all around the country,” he said.