Information

2006 Pro Football Hall of Fame Information Guidement of new members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and (2)the annual AFC-NFC Hall of Fame pre-season football game.This year, the enshrinement is scheduled for Saturday, August5, 2006 and the game is played Sunday, August 6. The Hall ofFame game will be televised on NBC’s Sunday Night Football.In addition to the enshrinement and the game, which ishandled by the Hall’s staff and a select committee of volunteers,many other festival events are organized and conductedby the Greater Canton Chamber of Commerce. Numerous volunteercitizens’ committees serve as integral parts of the overallorganization.The tentative format for this year’s EnshrinementCelebration is listed below. For the complete schedule of the15 public events held over 10 days that comprise the ProFootball Hall of Fame Enshrinement Celebration, log ontoProfootballhof.com.Friday - 6:30 p.m., Enshrinees’ Civic DinnerSaturday – 7:30 a.m., Timken Grand Parade1:00 p.m., Hall of Fame EnshrinementSunday – 8:00 p.m., AFC-NFC Hall of Fame GameTypical attendance during a weekend will find 200,000viewers at the parade, more than 20,000 at the enshrinementand a 22,000-plus crowd, including standing room, at thegame. In addition, up to 5,000 out-of-town visitors will have visitedthe Pro Football Hall of Fame for the first time. Millions ofothers will view the enshrinement live on ESPN and NFLNetwork. The game is nationally televised by NBC beginning in2006. ABC broadcast the Hall of Fame Game from 1971 to2005.T H E A N N U A L AFC-NFC H A L L O F F A M E G A M E :The annual Hall of Fame game is played at Pro FootballHall of Fame Field at Fawcett Stadium, a Canton city highschool stadium that seats 22,364 and can accommodate up to1,500 in standing room. It is located directly across the streetfrom the Pro Football Hall of Fame.The first game of the series was played in 1962, a yearbefore the Hall was opened. Except for 1966, there has beena Hall of Fame game in Canton every year since. The currentAFC-NFC format began in 1971.So that the press corps covering the annual Hall of Famegame would have satisfactory working conditions, the Hall in1974 constructed a $90,000 press box. The two-deck facilitycontains working space for 73 people on the lower level. Theupper level contains a large television broadcast booth, threeradio broadcast booths and three VIP booths. The stadium andlocker room received major overhauls in 1997 that included theinstallation of an artificial turf surface. A large Jumbotron wasinstalled in 2004. An additional state-of-the-art scoreboardwas added in 2006.ATTENDANCE AT THE PRO FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME:Nearly eight million fans have visited the Pro FootballHall of Fame since its opening in September, 1963. The attendancepace, slow at first, quickened dramatically in the early1970’s. Daily checks of the guest register show that, in a year’stime, visitors come from every state in the United States and upto 60 to 70 foreign nations. Year-by-year attendance is as follows:1963* - 22,195 1985 - 164,8241964 - 63,036 1986 - 179,1781965 - 60,026 1987 - 193,4321966 - 56,468 1988 - 212,5411967 - 52,989 1989 - 203,8451968 - 58,833 1990 - 207,9481969 - 80,881 1991 - 209,3151970 - 122,738 1992 - 189,0331971 - 220,881 1993 - 195,3921972 - 247,203 1994 - 204,1371973 - 330,029 1995 - 227,2021974 - 261,567 1996 - 220,4801975 - 235,404 1997 - 198,4511976 - 247,620 1998 - 202,6821977 - 246,912 1999 - 195,7471978 - 217,455 2000 - 185,7991979 - 182,881 2001 - 165,3371980 - 211,977 2002 - 180,0041981 - 229,087 2003 – 177,5391982 - 197,682 2004 – 181,1531983 - 185,080 2005 - 183,3991984 - 168,519* Four months- 4 - Profootballhof.com