The Pro Football Hall of Fame is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit educational institution guided by its mission to “Honor the Greatest of the Game, Preserve its History, Promote its Values and Celebrate Excellence Together.” After a stringent review process, the Hall of Fame achieved accreditation by the American Alliance of Museums (AAM), the highest national recognition afforded the nation’s museums, in 2017. Accreditation signifies excellence to the museum community, to governments, funders, outside agencies, and to the museum-going public. The Hall of Fame joins a list of just over 1,109 of the estimated 33,000 museums (a mere 3%) in the United States to earn AAM accreditation. The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the first major sports museum to be accredited. The Hall works collaboratively with the pro football family: The National Football League, the 32 NFL clubs, and other entities. The cooperative efforts of all of these organizations have contributed greatly to the overall success of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. In turn, the Hall strives to serve as the best historical showplace and repository for the sport of professional football. Today, the Hall of Fame reaches tens of millions of additional football fans each year through broad outreach, such as nationally televised events, an in-depth website, educational and youth programs, social media, traveling exhibits and special events held around the country.
