Reviewed by: Pat Byington
Children’s of Alabama receives $410,416 donation from Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix
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Today, representatives from ZOOM Motorsports, Children’s of Alabama and Medical Properties Trust gathered at Children’s of Alabama to announce the annual charitable donation generated by the Medical Properties Trust Presents Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix.
This year’s donation of $410,146 will help Children’s of Alabama continue to provide the best level of care to the hundreds of thousands of patients it sees each year.
The Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix is more than a race
When Eventive Sports founder and CEO Gene Hallman first approached IndyCar about bringing a race to Birmingham, IndyCar’s then-leader laughed—but two years later, Birmingham announced its inaugural IndyCar Series race. Held at Barber Motorsports Park, the IndyCar Series race has since become one of the longest-running and most impactful annual traditions in Birmingham, bringing tens of thousands of guests and generating $23 million dollars in economic impact just this year.
By 2022, the race was looking for a new title sponsor. Gene Hallman reached out to Medical Properties Trust—a Birmingham-based real estate investment trust specializing in the acquisition and development of net-leased hospital facilities—and after a series of conversations, the company agreed to the title sponsorship, with one important caveat.
Rather than putting its own name on the race, it wanted to give the title to Children’s of Alabama.
“In my 35 years in this business, I’ve never had it happen where a company purchased a title sponsorship and gifted it to a charity. There is no other charity which has its name on a race in the IndyCar Series or NASCAR. This is highly unique, to provide Children’s of Alabama with not only the money from the race, but the platform.”
Gene Hallman, Co-Founder and CEO, Eventive Sports
To put that into perspective, Hallman shared that the on-screen visibility given to Children’s of Alabama through the IndyCar Series race is roughly $50 million in value.
“[Medical Properties Trust] had the vision to say, ‘Let’s generate money that’s needed for the hosputal, but let’s use the IndyCar platform to talk about what we all view as a jewel in Birmingham’s crown.”
Gene Hallman, Co-Founder and CEO, Eventive Sports
A $410,416 donation for Children’s of Alabama
This year’s donation of $410,146 brings the total ammount contributed to Children’s of Alabama through the race over the past four years to $1,549,618. For Children’s of Alabama, that support goes towards life-saving resources needed to care for the hundreds of thousands of patients that pass through the hospital each year.
“Children’s of Alabama is one of the busiest pediatric hospitals in existence, with patients from every county in the state of Alabama. Support from the community is what creates this special environment, allows us to provide world-class pediatric care and supports our patients, their families and our staff.
The Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix is an important part of that support. The money is important, but it’s a lot more than that. It’s visibility and awarness, and it’s a welcome respite and healthy distraction for our patients and their families.”
Tom Shufflebarger, CEO, Children’s of Alabama
The Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix isn’t the only Birmingham event supporting the hospital. Hallman also highlighted the annual Regions Tradition, which will donate $295,000 to Children’s this year, bringing its total contributions to the hospital since 2000 to $3.3 million.
For the Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix team, however, there’s already a goal on the horizon.
“Our job is simple: raise more money for next year. We’re already committed to doing that, and we’re off to a great start.”
Gene Hallman, Co-Founder and CEO, Eventive Sports
The next Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix is set for the first weekend of May 2027.
