Skip to site content
The Group Travel Leader Going on Faith Select Traveler

Pro Football Hall of Fame: Canton’s Football Shrine

Located in Canton, Ohio, at the site where American football was founded in early 1920, the Pro Football Hall of Fame is a meeting venue where legends are celebrated and celebrations become legendary.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame opened on September 7, 1963, four years after the local newspaper, The Canton Repository, published an article headlined “Pro Football Needs a Hall of Fame and Logical Site is Here.” The 19,000-square-foot site has become a landmark, honoring 287 members of it Hall of Fame. More than 10 million fans have visited since opening day, and although the sense of wonder they feel about these hallowed halls remains, much has changed about the venue.

“A massive renovation and expansion project was completed in the summer of 2013 and resulted in a drastically new look,” said Gail McLaughlin, CMP, CMM and meetings and rentals specialist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. “A two-level exhibit area now fills the hall’s original rotunda. With the renovation, the hall is now open to all types of events. This last year we hosted children’s birthday parties, corporate meetings, fundraisers, seminars, association’s off-site events, wedding receptions, rehearsal dinners, class reunions, product launches, road shows, proms, awards dinners, company picnics and many, many more.”

The hall welcomes more than 200,000 visitors each year with events of its own like the Enshrinement Festival and the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game and offers tours of 118,000 square feet of interactive exhibits and films shown in the Super Bowl Theatre. The exhilarating sports showplace is all about paying tribute to the excellence achieved by the sport’s greatest stars, and it is an equally excellent site for hosting legend-in-the-making events and meetings.

 

Meeting Spaces

Whether your team is planning an all-day meeting or you hope to corral your closest fans for a late-night reception, the Pro Football Hall of Fame has ample space for private events. The main event center accommodates up to 200 guests for dinner; an attached outdoor plaza is perfect for cocktails and includes a seasonal tent for more than 300 guests plus a FieldTurf field for overflow. In addition to these large spaces, the Hall also has a recently renovated conference room with an attached patio for up to 148 guests.

 

Catering and Dining

Football and food have always gone hand in hand, but the dining and catering options at this hall of fame go far beyond finger foods and tailgating treats, although both of those options are available. Several approved catering companies in the northeast Ohio area offer variety and pricing options and can do meals ranging from design-your-own buffets  with themes such as Healthy Breakfast, Texas BBQ, Tailgate Special, Italian Delight to seven-course wine pairing dinners. The Hall has its own liquor license with affordable bar pricing, and all in-house bartenders are TIPS trained.