Springfield College's Historical Basketball Hall Of Fame Connection

Western New England University [WNE] and Springfield College are not the only "non-profit" institutions that are federally tax-exempted within the central Massachusetts city of Springfield--in which 27 percent of all residents are economically impoverished.

The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame--whose president and CEO in recent years, John Doleva, has also sat on the Springfield College board of trustees in recent years--is also a federally tax-exempted institution.

But, according to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame's 2019 Form 990 financial filing, between July 1, 2019 and June 30, 2020:

1. Springfield College Trustee and Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame President and CEO John Doleva was paid a total annual compensation of $478,970;

2. Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Chief Financial Officer Donald Senecal was paid a total annual compensation of $280,507; and

3. Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Vice-President for Advancement Scott Zuffelato was paid a total annual compensation of $251,077.

In addition, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, that "non-profit" Springfield College Trustee Doleva has been president and CEO of, was also the "controlling entity" of the Springfield Riverfront Development Corporation involved in the redevelopment of the Springfield Riverfront Project.

And also, according to the same 2019 Form 990 financial filing of the Springfield College trustee-linked and federally tax-exempted Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, "due to the fact that most of our governors and trustees are actively involved in the sport of basketball, there are outside business relationships with each other."

Coincidentally, Springfield's "non-profit" Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Board of Governors, that has also included folks like the following in recent years: a MassMutual Head of Field & Regulatory Compliance; a CEO of Heartland Bottling Company; a Global Basketball consultant at Nike; a president of Acorn Group; a CEO of The Three Media Group of Companies; a founder and CEO of The Colvest Group Ltd.; a partner of JDM Partners, LLC; a co-founder and private investor of Silver Lake; and a managing director for Investments of Moors & Cabot Inc.

And, also coincidentally, the board of trustees of the Naismith Memorial Baksetball Hall of Fame has also included folks like the following in recent years: Springfield College President Mary-Beth Cooper; a senior managing director and SVP of The State Street Corporation; a Principal of Cressy Capital; a president of Hillyard Industries; a CEO of Wade, Inc.; and a senior advisor of Avante Capital Partners.

Yet the "non-profit" Springfield College-interlocked Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame still apparently charges adult U.S. basketball fans $28 per ticket and charges U.S. youths who are basketbal fans $19 per ticket, in order to visit inside its Hall of Fame building at 1000 Hall of Fame Ave. in Springfield--despite its federal tax-exempted privileged status.