In next Monday's SBJ, I write about the NFL Flag Championships set for Canton, Ohio, July 18-21. With extensive coverage on ESPN and ABC, it will be a major escalation of NFL Flag's visibility. It's also a huge win for the Hall of Fame Resort and Entertainment Co. (NASDAQ:HOFV), the publicly traded developer of the Hall of Fame Village, a project that's struggled to get off the ground in the shadow of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. This is precisely the type of big event the village needs to host on a regular basis to one day turn a profit.
It's a win, but they need more. With a combination of athletic fields, restaurants, a hotel and other retail, the company has steadily grown its top line as more features have come online. But at the end of March, there was still a massive imbalance between quarterly revenue ($4.2 million) and its debt ($221 million), according to SEC filings. It has just $6.9 million in cash.
The company has accumulated $231.5 million in losses since its founding. And as it has for years now, the HOFV has a "going concern" notice in its financials. But the HOFV has successfully renegotiated large pending debts several times to push out their maturity, giving it more time.
"We are where we need to be as an early stage company, and I know that sounds odd to say if you have a going concern [notice] as part of financial filings," said CEO Mike Crawford. "But if you really look closely -- everything that we've talked about in the past -- what you look for in companies is that they have the ability to execute the strategy, grow top line, and start to consolidate expenses and show the bottom line can be enhanced, and expenses can be reduced, and that's exactly what you see quarter over quarter in our filings."
Earlier this year, Stuart Lichter, the largest shareholder and founder of the Hall of Fame's original JV partner on this project, Industrial Realty Group, indicated he may seek to take the company private again.
Watch this space.