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| Volume 11, No. 49 |
September 1-7, 2010 |
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| | Pro Football Hall of Fame: Why TVN’s new sponsors chose El Paso | | By Steve Kaplowitz | | 
The Fourth Annual Texas vs. the Nation All Star Challenge features a new title sponsor. Last July, the Pro Football Hall of Fame signed a five-year agreement to partner with Texas vs. the Nation, with an additional five-year option beginning in 2015. The deal gives the postseason bowl game a national sponsor and added credibility. Earlier this week, I spoke with David Motts, the Vice President for Marketing for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and discussed their relationship with Texas vs. the Nation.
Q. Who first approached the Pro Football Hall of Fame about a partnership with Texas vs. the Nation?
Last summer, our friends at Roger Staubach’s marketing firm approached us about getting involved with Texas vs. the Nation, and we had a conference call. It went very well and they set up an outline for us to become the title sponsor of the game. Our partnership includes: our brand placed on the national TV telecast, local exposure and a monetary contribution to the Pro Football Hall of Fame from Texas vs. Nation. In addition, we put together our educational program and our traveling museum here (at the El Paso International Airport), which includes artifacts of the game as it relates to the state of Texas and pro football. It was a win-win situation, and we jumped in with both feet.
Q. Which Pro Football Hall of Famers will be in El Paso?
Currently, Randy White (Dallas Cowboys Class of 1994), Lee Roy Selmon (Tampa Bay Buccaneers Class of 1995), and Dan Hampton (Chicago Bears Class of 2002) are in El Paso promoting the game and the Pro Football Hall of Fame. On Friday, Kenny Houston (Houston Oilers, Washington Redskins Class of 1986), Elvin Bethea (Houston Oilers Class of 2003), and Rayfield Wright (Dallas Cowboys Class of 2006) will be in town for all the festivities, including game day.
Q. Explain the importance of the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s education program for school children.
This goes back to 1985, when we started the program. Our mission points at the Pro Football Hall of Fame are (to) honor, preserve, promote and educate. We’ve established an educational outreach program that features an advisory board. We want to match up our programs with grades 3-8 using their existing curriculum, and we’re taking that beyond the community through distance learning. We plan to do some major programming in the El Paso schools later in the spring. The Pro Football Hall of Fame has 20 million documents in Canton, Ohio, relating to the history of pro football. We want to get that out to the general public through our educational program.
Q. What has impressed you most about the game and its organizers?
I’ve had the pleasure of staging the Hall of Fame game in Canton, Ohio, for the last 30 years. The Texas vs. the Nation’s staff is a first-class operation. They take care of the scouts and coaches coming into El Paso. The hospitality ranks up with what we do in Canton. They also interact well with the community, which has impressed me.
Q. What your ultimate goals for the Texas vs. the Nation game and the city of El Paso?
On the surface of the game, the goal is to get all of the NFL scouts to El Paso and attract the best college football players in the nation to make it the No. 1 postseason college all-star game in the country. How can we better the game on the ground as it relates to El Paso? We’d like to work more with El Paso museums, and grow the educational program for all the students of the greater El Paso area. Also, we’d like to bring more Hall of Famers into this city to work with the youth and citizens of El Paso, the military and the athletes that are here playing in this game. Ultimately, we want to be here in El Paso for many years to come.
Comments or questions about this story? E-mail Secret@whatsuppub.com
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