OT: College football HOF to move to Atlanta

Submitted by noshesnot on

The college football hall of fame is moving to Atlanta from South Bend in 2012. While the "tradition" of Notre Dame football exists, there is no other reason to visit South Bend whatsoever. Good move, I guess.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=4497123

Brodie

September 23rd, 2009 at 10:31 PM ^

Well, it needs to be somewhere people will visit... it's not drawing tourists by itself. I'd propose one of Texas' big cities would be the best fit. Who could argue if it was in Austin or Dallas?

931 S State

September 23rd, 2009 at 11:16 PM ^

I've lived in Atlanta for the last 7 years and can tell you that college football is KING here. Pro sports take a backseat to CFB in every way. Talk radio is almost entirely dominated by college football talk and every sports bar in the city is packed with alumni associations and random fans from every SEC/ACC and national powerhouse program every Saturday. Between the transient nature of the population in Atlanta, it's appeal as a major city, and the rabid SEC fans (and ACC fans as bonus) it makes perfect sense to move the HofF here. While it would be nice to have it in a college town, far more people will get to attend if it is in Atlanta, and the increased revenue will probably result in a better overall HoF experience.

Sgt. Wolverine

September 23rd, 2009 at 10:25 PM ^

I can't believe they chose Atlanta. There has to be a good college town with better college football history that was willing to host the hall of fame. Some place like Austin. (I know Austin isn't that small, but it's not the sprawling Toronto-like metropolis that Atlanta is.)

Rescue_Dawn

September 23rd, 2009 at 11:26 PM ^

Why Austin!? or an other college town?

Atleast Atlanta is a metropolis where it will recieve max exposure. For those that don't know Georgia Tech is in the middle of Atlanta. Like someone mentioned above the Chic-Fil-A Bowl (Who is trying to get Michigan to come down for a season opener)& SEC Championships are always in Atlanta so you having a constant influx of people throughout the SE Region on top of the 2.8 million people that visit there annually.

I would love to see the stats for the # of people who visited the HOF in South Bend as opposed to the # that will visit it while in Atlanta.

jmblue

September 24th, 2009 at 9:49 PM ^

Does a Hall of Fame really need to be in a major city to receive exposure? Cooperstown, New York, Canton, Ohio and Springfield, Massachusetts are hardly metropolises, but their HoFs are doing fine. There's something to be said for being the major attraction in a town. The problem with South Bend, IMO, is that it's just an unattractive city in general. (Perhaps anti-ND sentiment has driven some to stay away, too.)