Fawcett Stadium, which is one of the cornerstone pieces to the Pro Football Hall of Fame's new village concept, will be named Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium. Benson is the owner of the New Orleans Saints and his $11 million donation to the Hall of Fame's expansion efforts is the largest individual gift in the Hall's history.

Fawcett Stadium was built at a cost of $500,000 more than 75 years ago. A gift of $11 million and a strong belief in the future of the Pro Football Hall of Fame is changing the name of Stark County’s most-identifiable venue.

The new stadium, which is one of the cornerstone pieces to the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s new village concept, will be named Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium.

Benson is the owner of the New Orleans Saints, and his $11 million donation to the Hall of Fame’s expansion efforts is the largest individual gift in the Hall’s history.

“This is a donation that I feel very strongly about,” Benson said. “I have taken great pride in the recovery and renaissance of my home city New Orleans, not only prior to, but more importantly post-Katrina. We have done great things in our city, and today we can proudly present New Orleans as a city that is a role model to other communities.

“When approached to make a donation to the Pro Football of Fame in Canton, I did not think long at all about why we should help.”

For 76 years, the stadium has been named after John A. Fawcett, a former Canton City Schools Board of Education member and standout athlete. The Hall of Fame has agreed with Canton City Schools to commemorate the memory of Fawcett in special exhibits at both Benson Stadium and the Hall of Fame.

“Mr. Fawcett was a respected community leader, school board member and outstanding athlete,” Canton City Schools Superintendent Adrian Allison said. “After sharing the news of Mr. Benson’s gift with Mr. Fawcett’s family, I believe that he would be proud that the students of Canton will have the opportunity to compete in what will be one of the finest facilities in the country. He would have appreciated the importance of this project for the city.”

David Baker, the Hall’s president, talked with Benson about the idea of a significant gift toward the sports and entertainment complex. Within a week, Benson agreed to not only donate $10 million, but he increased it another million.

“There was no bargaining involved,” Baker said. “This was a talk about a vision and making something good happen. This was one of the easiest things I’ve ever been involved with.

“Mr. Benson was very much for Canton. He was very much for the Hall, and he’s excited about Hall of Fame Village. He’s pumped about what this can do for future generations. For all the right reasons, this is something special.”

Benson didn’t purchase the naming rights to the stadium. The Hall of Fame is honoring his gift by renaming the stadium. It is similar to what the Hall did when its research center was built and Bills owner, the late Ralph Wilson, made a significant gift to make that happen.

“While recognition for a gift like this is nice, it is not the point,” Benson said. “The point is understanding what is behind the plans for the Hall of Fame Village for me, and once I learned them, I wanted to play a role.”

The Hall of Fame’s renovation idea started with the stadium, a $24.3 million renovation. Ohio Gov. John Kasich earmarked $10 million in his capital budget bill for the renovation of Fawcett Stadium.

Benson’s gift, with the state money, just about pays for the stadium renovation. The sports and entertainment complex covers the stadium, practice fields for youth programming and the center for excellence.

“Tom Benson’s leadership has been instrumental in the NFL’s success and growth for nearly 30 years as owner of the Saints,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said. “His generous gift to the Hall of Fame will forever link Tom’s legacy to the game he loves, and to the legends who helped build it.”

Benson is a self-made billionaire. He was born in 1927, three years before ground was broken on Fawcett Stadium and 11 years before the public works project was finished. Benson moved to San Antonio, Texas in 1956 and took on a position in a car dealership to help revive its poor sales performance. For that, he was given a 25 percent stake in the dealership.

By 1962, he was full owner of Tom Benson Chevrolet and expanded in to New Orleans as well. Benson invested some of his dealership profits into small banks and he started buying those banks. He formed Benson Financial, which was sold to Norwest in 1996.

He bought the Saints in 1985 when he heard the team was for sale and on the verge of being moved to Jacksonville, Florida. He also owns New Orleans’ NBA team, the Pelicans. He paid $338 million for that team in 2012.

The Hall of Fame is planning to make an official announcement later today. During tonight’s “Monday Night Football” broadcast between the Ravens and Saints on ESPN, a special announcement about Benson’s $11 million gift will be made as well.

Baker approached Benson with the idea of a $10 million proposal that would include “allowing his legacy to be associated with the Hall of Fame forever,” Baker said.

However, after seeing the entire Hall of Fame Village plan, Benson added an additional $1 million to the gift. The village includes plans for a sports and entertainment complex, a four-star hotel and conference center, a center for athletic performance and safety, a youth football center with playing fields, a institute for integrity and officiating, a coaches university, an academy for corporate excellence as well as themed restaurants, and mixed-use residential area that can be used by Hall of Famers, called Legends Landing.

The residential area for past NFL greats is what got Benson’s additional gift.

“I am especially proud of what the Hall of Fame is doing with the creation of Legends Landing,” Benson said. “This is one where we can make a tangible difference in the lives of our game’s greats. It is important that we play a role here.”

Baker and Benson are not new friends. When Baker was the commissioner of the Arena Football League, Benson was the first person to buy an AFL team under Baker’s leadership. Baker is credited with increasing the value of AFL franchises during his time as commissioner (1996-2008) and expanding the league to 17 teams. The cost of an AFL team when Baker came to the league was $300,000. The last expansion team sold when he left went for $20 million.

The AFL held the first major event in New Orleans post Katrina when Baker had the league’s Arena Bowl game there.

“We are in some respects guardians of the game at the Hall of Fame,” Baker said. “The game doesn’t really have a voice. There are people who talk about the game, but really the only voice of the game comes through actions of good people who love it. This is history and generous. Tom Benson is doing more than we asked.”

Reach Todd at 330-580-8340 or todd.porter@cantonrep.com

On Twitter: @toddporter