See How the College Football Hall of Fame Is Transporting Fans Into the Game Day Experience

ATLANTA—The Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta has taken the game day experience to a whole new level for visitors.

Last month, it unveiled an AI-powered, personalized experience that inserts fans into the action. Called GAME ON!, the experience requires guests to step up to a face scan kiosk, prompting a series of questions about their favorite team, biggest rivals, and dream position. Specifically, visitors are asked: Who's their least favorite team, favorite football food, favorite football position, ideal superpower, where they grew up, and one word their friends would use to describe them.

The tech then leverages this information to tailor the experience, which spans 14 touchpoints throughout the space. Guests see their likeness, preferences, and personality through curated images and video with customized captions. 

To take part in the AI-powered experience, guests step up to a face scan kiosk, prompting a series of questions about their favorite team, biggest rivals, and dream position.Photo: Courtesy of Instagram/@cfbhallFor example, visitors can find themselves cheering in the stands and wearing their favorite team’s colors while reading about their game day rituals, pumping iron in the weight room, serving as a fictitious college coach, and showing off as their favorite team’s most recent college recruit with a personalized voice-over on a large LED screen.  

The data is anonymized and deleted 48 hours after a visit to the hall. Guests do have the option to purchase a digital download of their experience and order customized merchandise. 

The GAME ON! experience was created in partnership with Creative Principals, with executive production by The Producers Group (TPG). The AI experience was created by New Zealand tech startup HyperCinema, AV integration and media production was by 3Stage Design and Forward Thinking Designs, and exhibit fabrication by Project Workshop. 

Kimberly Beaudin, president and CEO of the Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame, said that the venue wanted a “refreshed and enhanced experience that would build on our existing technology, introduce the hall to new audiences, and take the experience to a new level of immersive and interactive engagement,” all timed to its 10th anniversary in Atlanta, but the idea of incorporating artificial intelligence didn’t pop up right away. 

“We had brainstormed several concepts and ideas, some of which we implemented alongside GAME ON!, but it wasn’t until Creative Principals went to New Zealand and visited the HyperCinema AI experience in December 2023 that we were introduced to the possibilities AI could unlock for the hall and our guests,” she explained. 

Production began in April, with the hall reopening on Aug. 24. 

The new "Military and Football" exhibit includes a tribute to U.S. Service Academies, the retired Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy, a desk belonging to Gen. Douglas MacArthur, and a video wall displaying stadium flyovers.Photo: Courtesy of Instagram/@cfbhallIn addition to the AI experience, the hall partnered with Aflac to create a new exhibit celebrating the shared history between the U.S. military and college football. It showcases artifacts, uniform displays, and a video wall of stadium flyovers. The exhibit also includes a GAME ON! AI experience putting guests in the cockpit of a plane or helicopter during a stadium flyover. 

“There is little more personal than someone’s favorite college football team and their connections to moments and memories. We get to bring those to life for our guests by putting them in their own story of game day—from marching bands and cheerleaders to historic fans and historic paintings,” Beaudin said. 

Additional upgrades include an expanded exhibit on the biggest rivalries, a high-intensity walk-in tunnel with an added soundtrack, a display honoring the hall’s decade in Atlanta, and a reimagined retail experience. Besides the visitor experience, the College Hall of Fame also serves as an event venue that hosts over 175 private events per year.

The Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame is celebrating 10 years in Atlanta.Photo: Courtesy of Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame

Visitors can test their skills on the 45-yard indoor playing field known as the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl Skills Zone.Photo: Courtesy of Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame