Chances of National Soccer Hall of Fame staying in Oneonta: ‘Slim’
Posted on 22. Sep, 2009 by in News
The National Soccer Hall of Fame recently announced that, after 30 years, they were closing after Labor Day. Jack Huckel, the Director of Museum and Archives, took time to speak with TheCup.us about what’s next for the Oneonta, NY-based soccer mecca.
Jack Huckel, Director of Museum & Archives, addresses the audience during the induction ceremony for the National Soccer Hall of Fame at Wright Soccer Campus in Oneonta, NY, on August 2, 2009. Photo: National Soccer Hall of Fame
It was not shocking news, but certainly sad news for soccer fans when The Daily News reported that the National Soccer Hall of Fame would close its doors after Labor Day. The economic difficulties of the museum, located in Oneonta, NY, about 80 miles west of Albany, have been well-documented with the country’s poor economy being the paramount reason for the decline in attendance and revenue. The museum attracts around 17,000 people per year which, along with donations, helps the Hall chip away at a $1 million annual budget.
Jack Huckel, the director of Museum and Archives, says his fears about the state of the Hall’s business affairs were confirmed only months before the announcement was made.
“The administration told us mid-summer that there would have to be changes, or that there would have to be layoffs,” said Huckel. “[The closing of the museum] was knowable, but the summer was so bad that it came faster than anyone anticipated.”
It doesn’t take a economics degree to see the reason why the Hall of Fame was struggling to make ends meet. A drop in attendance leads to less ticket revenue and less money spent in the gift shop. The number of teams that were entering the youth tournaments held at the Hall’s four soccer fields next to the museum facility had gone down, which created a similar financial snowball effect.
“I think our greatest marketing challenge, believe it or not, is that we put those teams on the fields in those tournaments and we have their parents here and we struggle to bring those people into the museum,” said Huckel. “They’re not soccer fans, they’re Johnny and Janie’s fans.”
Donations had dropped as well, and Huckel says that he believes that people struggling in this tough economy are putting their philanthropic contributions in the hands of human service organizations rather than cultural organizations like the Hall.
“I don’t know of a museum that exists successfully as a business,” said Huckel, who spent 30 years as a soccer coach and volunteered at the museum before being hired full-time in May of 2000. ”The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, for example. If they can’t make it without significant contributions, why should anyone else think they can?”
One of the by-products of the financial struggles has been the limited amount of funds that have been invested back into the museum. Huckel says that many of the exhibits that are currently on display are, for the most part, the same ones that were created 10 years ago.
“I felt personally that [the limited investment] was not as critical because the numbers were relatively small, and we attract a small repeat audience,” said Huckel. “That’s why museums change, because primarily they are in a metropolitan area and they want to attract that repeat audience.”
The National Soccer Hall of Fame has called this building in Oneonta, NY home since June 12, 1999. Photo: Sarah Hakala
What the Soccer Hall lacks that other major sports museums in the United States have is a significant benefactor to cover costs and are committed to the long-term success of the organization. Without that benefactor, the financial situation of the museum may not change.
“One of the speculations is that the museum could move to a more populous location,” he said. “It’s my belief that while the numbers might change, the attendance would increase and the income would grow, the economics stay relatively the same. The only way that it makes sense in any location is if there is a benefactor or a group of benefactors that make sure it stays alive.”
As of now, no one has come forward to bring the Hall of Fame to a particular city or to keep it in Oneonta. State Senator James Seward issued a statement shortly after the announcement pledging his support to help keep the Hall in the small New York town, but also acknowledged the financial challenges involved.
The future of the museum is still in the discussion phase, but the chances of the Hall remaining in Oneonta are ’slim’ according to Huckel. The board of directors are expecting to have a decision made and a plan of action put together before Thanksgiving. The last event at the Hall is the weekend before Thanksgiving (Nov. 21-22) when they host the New York State Public High School soccer tournament.
| Open Cup Final at the HOF? |
| Over the years, there have been rumors, suggestions and even reports that the US Open Cup Final would be moved to the National Soccer Hall of Fame. Jack Huckel says that discussions to move the Final to Oneonta, NY never got beyond the exploratory stage. “The logistics of it never really worked,” he says. ”But it sure would have been a lot of fun to do.” |
Huckel pointed out an additional challenge is that the Hall has to work with an outside entity in order to get approval to move forward with whatever direction they decide to go.
“The museum itself does not have absolute control over all its elements,” he explains. “We were chartered by the New York State Department of Education and in return for giving us the imprinter to be a non-profit and to have the benefits of tax-free donations is that they have an interest in our historical collection. So they have to approve the next step. Whatever we do, they have to sign off on. For example, if this were a business and it went bankrupt, they are like the bondholders, they would then take the archives.”
The Department of Education, which oversees every museum and historical archive in the state of New York, everything from The Met to the smallest historical society, likely won’t stand in the way of a potential move to another city. They are concerned that the Hall’s archive is in good hands no matter where they are located.
The board of directors and the Department of Education met recently and the Department approved all of the options that the Hall are currently exploring. However, details of what those options are have not been disclosed.
3-D Rendering of the National Soccer Hall of Fame
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2009 Hall of Fame Induction: Joy Fawcett
2009 Hall of Fame Induction Announcement Interviews (FSC)
Move it to Chicago, since USSF hq is there. MLS city, many WCQ & Int’l friendlies held in Chicago. Many good reasons.
Move it to New Jersey. It is a soccer hub in between two MLS franchises and countless USL teams of all levels. Also, many speculate that the first “football” game between Rutgers and Princeton (both NJ schools) was actually closer to what we would call a soccer game than whatwe now know as American football. Being in the Northeast corridor would give it the largest population base to support the museum. There are lots of wealthy soccer fans around that reagion. Or NYC, it would keep it in NY and MLS is headquartered there. NJ fans would readily cross the river to visit such an institution (but nowhere upstate NY- no way).
Move it to St. Louis. Middle of the country. Long soccer history. The football and baseball halls aren’t in cities where there are teams.
But seriously, move it to whatever city some major contributor wants to put it in. Things are actually going pretty well with soccer in this country. It would be a major shame for the Hall to shutter for any length of time.
Washington DC is the nation’s capital, the home base of the country’s major museums and is the most culturally diverse city in America outside NYC. On Federal land, it is the dividing line between the North and South of the nation and should be where this museum be moved to now. DC has everything required for global visitors and of course is the hotbed of soccer in the Mid Atlantic region with the most successful professional men and women’s franchises in DC United and the Washington Freedom, some of the most successful college soccer programs in Maryland, George Mason Women, and Howard. Plus the strongest youth clubs in America which form the oldest girls league in the nation, WAGS, which also has one of the biggest girl’s soccer tournaments. So this is really a no brainer. Every level of the game is represented well in DC, and since many of America’s icons, Freddy Adu, Mia Hamm, Marco Etcheverry, Jaime Moreno, Abby Wambach, John Harkes, etc, all played in DC, then Washington (hosting both World Cups and Olympics) is already a city of soccer fame. The US Soccer Foundation is in the city too. Do I need to go on….
Move it accross the street from the Red Bull Arena in New Jersey…plenty of space and next to the best MLS stadium in the USA.
I think moves to Chicago, St. Louis, and New York or New Jersey would all make sense. DC less so: there are so many excellent, free museums there I think it could get overlooked. I’m a Chicagoan, so probably a bit biased, but I’d really like to see it in Chicago, connected with the USSF and its archives…
Put it somewhere easily accessible to US Soccer fans from all over the country.
Move it to St. Louis! Move it to Soccer Hill!