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As the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta gets ready to celebrate 10 years, Rick talks with the CEO, Kimberly Beaudin. Great insight and inside look at the Hall with Kimberly.
The College Football Hall of Fame was established by the National Football Foundation in 1951.
The Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame, which opened on Aug. 23, 2014, is a 94,256-square-foot attraction located in the heart of Atlanta’s sports, entertainment and tourism district.
When the 2022 Hall of Fame Class is officially inducted in December, only 1,056 players and 226 coaches will have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame from the nearly 5.54 million who have played or coached the game over the past 152 years. In other words, only two one-hundredths of a percent (.02%) of those who have played the game have earned the distinction.
Inaugural Hall of Fame Class in 1951 included 32 players and 22 coaches, including notables Red Grange (Illinois), George Gipp (Notre Dame), Knute Rockne(Notre Dame), Amos Alonzo Stagg (as a coach and player) and Jim Thorpe (Carlisle [PA]).
317 schools are represented with at least one College Football Hall of Fame player or coach.
The College Football Hall of Fame Class is officially inducted each December during the NFF Annual Awards Dinner Presented by Las Vegas.
The Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame opened its doors in Atlanta on Aug. 23, 2014. Redefining the concept of a traditional museum with cutting-edge technology, the building has drawn universal praise for creating a venue that rises to the occasion of paying tribute to the game’s greatest legends while engaging fans with a unique range of compelling exhibits.
“We knew that downtown Atlanta offered the perfect setting for the Hall, and the city, as well as people from all over the country, have embraced our home in Atlanta as a major epicenter for college football,” said Archie Manning, the chairman of the NFF, which launched the Hall in 1951 and partnered with the city of Atlanta to raise the money and open the Hall in 2014. “We knew we had something special in the proposal and planning stages, and it has been even better in reality.”
The Hall, built at a cost of approximately $68.5 million, measures 94,256 square feet, including 50,000 square feet of exhibit space and a 45-yard indoor football field. The attraction offers a total “Fan Experience” matching traditional, museum-quality memorabilia with interactive, multimedia exhibits that invite fans and visitors to engage with their favorite college football team or Hall of Famer.
Fans are given an RFID-enabled All-Access Pass as they enter the building and are immediately greeted by the three-story helmet wall representing all 771 U.S. colleges and universities with football teams. When fans register their RFID All-Access Pass, their school’s helmet actually lights up. As fans explore the rest of the building, the RFID badge continues to pull and display information about their school throughout their tour.
The Hall has been a prime space for private events in Atlanta, hosting more than 250 annually. Visit cfbhall.com for more information and to purchase tickets.
