Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium
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| Location | Canton, Ohio |
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| Coordinates | 40°49′11″N 81°23′53″W / 40.81972°N 81.39806°WCoordinates: 40°49′11″N 81°23′53″W / 40.81972°N 81.39806°W |
| Owner | Canton City School District |
| Capacity | 22,375 |
| Surface | UBU Sports (formerly grass, later AstroTurf) |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | 1924 |
| Opened | 1938 |
| Closed | 2015 (for renovation/reconstruction of stadium) |
| Construction cost | $500,000.00USD |
| Tenants | |
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Canton McKinley High School Bulldogs (1924–2015) Malone University Pioneers (NCAA) Walsh University Cavaliers (NCAA) Pro Football Hall of Fame Game (NFL) (1962–present) Lincoln High School Lions (1926–1975) Lehman High School Polar Bears (1932–1975) GlenOak High School - Golden Eagles (1997–2006) Canton Timken High School Trojans (1976–2014) |
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Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium, formerly known as Fawcett Stadium, is a football stadium in Canton, Ohio, United States. The stadium is located adjacent to the grounds of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and plays host to the annual Pro Football Hall of Fame Game, along with various high school and college football games. Dedicated in 1938, the stadium's original name honored the memory of former Canton board of education member John A. Fawcett, who died several years before the stadium was completed.
On November 24, 2014, it was announced that Tom Benson, the 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. In response to Benson's donation, the Hall of Fame announced that Fawcett Stadium would be renamed Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium as "the first step in a 'master plan' for major upgrades and expansion of the Hall of Fame Village."
Fawcett Stadium served as the home for Canton McKinley High School and Division II college football teams at Malone University and Walsh University. The stadium used to be the home for the Lehman Polar Bears, GlenOak Golden Eagles, Lincoln Lions, and the Timken Trojans. Timken played their last season in 2014 before a vote took place after the season in February 2015 when the Canton School Board approved the closure of Timken as a separate high school.
The stadium was built from 1937 to 1939 at an estimated cost of $500,000. The federal government in the form of man power, the WPA, paid for $400,000 while a school board bond issue paid for the materials. The stadium originally seated 15,000 and was the largest high school stadium in the country at that time. On the grounds of the facility was a park, aptly named "Stadium Park". This park still exists although presently is much more disjointed from the stadium as part of the park was used as the site of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and also because what is left of the park is separated from Benson Stadium by Interstate 77. Benson Stadium was constructed as a replacement for League Field, the city's previous stadium, where Canton's professional football team, the Canton Bulldogs, played many of their games.
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