June 2021 NSME Akron/Canton Luncheon Recap

Anne Graffice, the Executive Vice President of Public Affairs for the Hall of Fame Resort & Entertainment Company, was the NSME Akron/Canton June speaker. This themed attraction is a publicly held company (NASDAQ: HOFV) and is currently trading at $4.58 per share.

She shared the three different phases of the resort and her team’s vision for the future.

Three Phases

Phase I (already opened)

• The Pro Football Hall of Fame
• The Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium
• The DoubleTree by Hilton Canton Downtown where they put $30 million into a major renovation

Phase II (where they took down 100 homes) will be under construction over the coming 12-24 months

• Indoor Waterpark
• The Eleven, A Hilton Tapestry Hotel
• Constellation Center of Excellence, used for meetings and event
• Center for Performance, potential usage for indoor sports tournaments and the NFL Alumni Academy
• 10-12 retail tenants
• Play Action Plaza

Phase III is to be determined, but they plan to put $300 million into space across 600 acres within the designated Tourism Development District (TDD).

The Organization

The organization’s President and CEO is Mike Crawford, originally from Ohio. He spent over 24 years in various leadership capacities with the Disney corporation building destination resorts and entertainment venues all around the world.

They desire to be one of the most dynamic sports and only football-themed complex in America with an integrated revenue platform.

They anticipate garnering revenue from the following sources:

• The stadium
• The waterpark
• The hotels
• Play Action Plaza and Retail
• Center for Excellence
• Youth Sports and
• Esports and Fantasy 

They are trying to obtain a sports betting license to round off their offering.

Parting Thoughts

Anne is a Stark County native and highly excited about what this all means for the county. She shared a story that one of the demolished homeowner’s daughter approached her in a coffee shop and told Ann that her parents were appreciative of the money they received from her organization and could now afford to retire in Florida. That made Ann’s day.

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