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aerial Images of the 2022 Hall of Fame Game at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio by Aerial Agents © 2022
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Thomas Wasinski
aerial Images of the 2022 Hall of Fame Concert for Legends featuring Journey at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio by Aerial Agents © 2022
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photos provided by Hall of Fame Village and Visit Canton
Anne Graffice has a direct line to the best seat in Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium. Her office in the Constellation Center for Excellence, where she works as Hall of Fame Resort & Entertainment Co. executive vice president of global marketing and public affairs, is behind the scoreboard on the west end zone and steps away from prime stadium viewing at the Touchdown Terrace patio.
After years of planning and overcoming obstacles, the 120-acre Hall of Fame Village next to the Pro Football Hall of Fame is coming to life with six anchors open to visitors, athletes and more. Plus, travelers can stay in the new DoubleTree by Hilton Canton Downtown featuring the 330 Bar & Grill in the restored former McKinley Grand Hotel. The $300 million Phase I is complete, and the $360 million Phase II expansion continues, with a ride and more shopping and dining options opening this summer, and an indoor football-themed water park and hotel are under construction for a 2024 opening. Traction at the village bolsters Canton’s renaissance.
“It is an opportunity for you to come stay for not just the day but overnight, play, eat, dine, be entertained,” Graffice says. “The more we grow, as months go on, the more there’s cause to do that.”
Thousands of jobs have been created by the village, and management makes a point to hire Ohioans. The village is set to increase the tax base of the city and county by almost $100 million over the next five years, says Graffice. Over a million visitors are coming through the village a year, and Graffice projects the amount of visitors could expand to 3 to 5 million in the next five years. While hundreds of thousands of visitors come for Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinement week, the ultimate goal is to draw visitors to Canton beyond that. So the village is planning a Phase III with more entertainment, gaming, interactive experiences, attractions and potentially a living component.
“We are creating a destination,” Graffice says.
She shares the game plan behind each zone in the village.
Constellation Center for Excellence
The 73,000-square-foot hub contains management offices and fantastic stadium views including an atrium with tiered seating and a rooftop entertaining space for 50. There’s also a Starbucks and a workout facility from former NFL player Donald Driver. Office tenants include Cleveland-based JumpStart, which is developing an entrepreneurship center. “[It’s] a hub for cutting-edge technology, research, development related to not just sports but entrepreneurship in general,” Graffice says.
Center for Performance
The largest air-pressurized dome of its kind in the country, the Center for Performance offers 100,000 square feet of year-round sports and event space. “It’s a very unique technology that’s relatively new that creates an environment where the temperature is the same top to bottom,” Graffice says. Turf and cement can be covered with basketball flooring, so it can host soccer, volleyball, pickleball and more events, such as the recent Stark County Home & Garden show that drew over 100 vendors and over 7,000 attendees.
Play-Action Plaza
The iconic 20-gondola Ferris wheel from the I-X Center got restored as the new Red Zone ride to anchor this 3-acre amusement area. Also ride the Forward Pass zip line where you sit in a football-shaped car and get flung from the quarterback to the receiver. This summer, Spike It is coming, which is a 40-foot-tall drop tower ride that emulates a touchdown celebration. Hang out around an amphitheater with food, beer, wine, a fire pit, yard games like cornhole and entertainment. “We can have small venue concerts, small plays or vignettes,” says Graffice, “flag football tournaments, you name it.”
Fan Engagement Zone
Get travel tips from Visit Canton, create a bear wearing your favorite team’s football uniform at Build-A-Bear Workshop, dine at the upscale coach Don Shula’s American Kitchen and have a beer at the Brew Kettle’s rooftop Top Golf virtual swing suites overlooking the stadium. “It’s a venue like nowhere else,” Graffice says. Plus, find more choices this summer with the opening of Hall of Famer Isaac Bruce’s Smoosh ice cream cookie sandwich shop and Canton landmarks Pizza Oven and Heggy’s Handcrafted Chocolate & Candies.
Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium
The biggest action takes place in the 23,000-seat NFL-caliber stadium with rooftop viewing and a stage on the 50-yard line. “People are blown away,” says Graffice. “Entertainers that come to us, … they’re like, This is spectacular.” Features include a sky-level terrace event space, luxury suites with catering, a VIP lounge and a stylish club level. It’s the home field for McKinley Senior High School and U.S. Football League teams Pittsburgh Maulers and New Jersey Generals, which bring in tens of thousands of visitors. It hosts events like the Winter Blitz carnival with tubing through the goalpost and stadium tours where you can kick a football on the field, tackle a dummy and push the sled.
ForeverLawn Sports Complex
Hundreds of thousands of athletes from football and lacrosse to quidditch and field hockey play on these eight fields equipped with concessions including Pizza Oven slices, a Cleveland Clinic training facility and more. “Upward of 70 to 80 percent of those that are on those fields are from outside our area,” Graffice says. “They’re staying in our hotels multiple days, eating in our restaurants, buying our gas.”
Hilton Tapestry Hotel & Indoor Water Park
Coming in 2024, stay at a football-themed hotel and visit a 125,000-square-foot water park that has water slides, a lazy river, a zero-entry splash zone, a swim-up bar and an outdoor area. Expect TVs playing games, football art and jersey-shaped floats.
Summer Fun at Hall of Fame Village
Sip & Stretch Yoga
June 13, July 18 & Aug. 15, Play-Action Plaza
Midfield Magic featuring Rick Smith Jr.
June 16, Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium
Super Smash Bros. Melee esports tournament
June 18, stadium
Kidz Bop Never Stop Live Tour
July 25, stadium
Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Week
Aug. 1-7, various locations
Zac Brown Band
Aug. 5, stadium
