Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium
2022 USFL Championship Game held at the stadium | |
Tom Benson Stadium Location in Ohio Tom Benson Stadium Location in the United States | |
| Former names | Fawcett Stadium (1938–2015) |
|---|---|
| Location | 1835 Harrison Ave NW, Canton, Ohio, U.S. |
| Coordinates | 40°49′12″N 81°23′53″W / 40.820°N 81.398°W |
| Owner | Canton City School District |
| Capacity | 23,000 |
| Surface | Natural grass (1938–1997) AstroTurf (1997–2016) Turf Nation (2016–2023) ForeverLawn (2023–present) |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | 1924 |
| Opened | 1938, 88 years ago 2016 (re-opened) |
| Renovated | 2015–2021 |
| Construction cost | US$500,000 |
| 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) | |
| Website | |
| hofvillage.com/tom-benson-stadium | |
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 team 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. It also served as the home stadium for a number of other Canton-area high schools.
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, 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.