Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium
Football stadium in Canton, Ohio / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium, formerly Fawcett Stadium, is a football stadium and entertainment complex in Canton, Ohio. It is a major component of Hall of Fame Village, located adjacent to the grounds of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The venue hosts the annual Pro Football Hall of Fame Game and serves as the home field for the football teams from Canton McKinley High School. It also served as the home field for Malone University from 1993 to 2018 and Walsh University from 1998 to 2022.[2] It also served as the home stadium for a number of other Canton-area high schools.
 USFL Championship Game at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in 2022 | |
  Tom Benson Stadium Location in the United States Show map of the United States | |
| Former names | Fawcett Stadium (1938–2015) |
|---|---|
| Location | 1835 Harrison Ave NW, Canton, Ohio, U.S. |
| Coordinates | 40.820°N 81.398°W / 40.820; -81.398 |
| Owner | Hall of Fame Village |
| Capacity | 23,000 |
| Surface | Natural grass (1938–1997) AstroTurf (1997–2016) Turf Nation (2016–present) |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | 1924 |
| Opened | 1938, 86 years ago 2016 (re-opened) |
| Renovated | 2015–2021 |
| Construction cost | US$500,000[1] |
| Tenants | |
| Hall of Fame Game (NFL) 1962–present Canton McKinley Bulldogs (OHSAA) 1924–present Walsh Cavaliers (NCAA) 1998–2022 Lincoln Lions (OHSAA) 1926–1975 Lehman Polar Bears (OHSAA) 1932–1975 GlenOak Golden Eagles (OHSAA) 1997–2006 Timken Trojans (OHSAA) 1976–2014 Malone Pioneers (NCAA) 1993–2018 New Jersey Generals (USFL) 2023 Pittsburgh Maulers (USFL) 2023 | |
The stadium was constructed as a replacement for League Field, the city's previous stadium, where Canton's professional football team, the Bulldogs, played many of their games. First dedicated as Fawcett Stadium in 1938, the stadium's original name honored the memory of John A. Fawcett, a former Canton board of education member, who died several years before the stadium was completed.
On November 24, 2014, it was announced that Tom Benson, owner of the New Orleans Saints, would be donating $11 million to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, $10 million of which was to go into renovating Fawcett Stadium and recouping the money by renting use of the stadium. In response to Benson's donation, the Hall of Fame announced that Fawcett Stadium would be renamed Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium,[3][4] which was dedicated on August 3, 2017. Benson died less than a year later, on March 15, 2018.
The renovation of Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium was part of the approximately $200 million construction completed in Phase I of the Hall of Fame Village expansion project.[5][6]