By Thomas A. Parmalee
When funeral home owner Matt Linn talks about legacy, he’s not just referring to headstones or obituaries. He’s talking about the roar of a stadium crowd, the smell of the turf and the memories that bind generations of fans to their teams.
As the owner of Brosh Chapel and The Avacentre in Iowa, Linn has spent more than three decades helping families celebrate lives well lived. But through his company Eternal Fan, he is taking remembrance far beyond the walls of the funeral home — and into the arenas and venues that fans call sacred ground.
Eternal Fan’s latest partnership with the Jacksonville Jaguars represents a groundbreaking moment in both sports and in funeral service.
The company announced the partnership with the football team in June, becoming the team’s official Fan Memories partners, marking its first venture with an NFL franchise.
As part of the agreement, Eternal Fan will play a central role in the Jaguars’ forthcoming 904EVER Club, a dedicated program designed to allow fans to leave a legacy. Fan Memories installations will be a key feature of the 904EVER Club, offering fans a one-of-a-kind opportunity to commemorate their most cherished team memories permanently and meaningfully.
Scott Massey, senior vice president, corporate partnerships of the Jacksonville Jaguars, expressed his enthusiasm in a news release, stating, “For more than 30 years, Jaguars fans have been some of the most passionate and loyal in sports. Through our partnership with Eternal Fan, we look forward to showing our gratitude to our fans by giving them the unique opportunity to ‘enshrine’ their fandom in our renovated Stadium of the Future, opening in 2028.”
Linn echoed this sentiment, stating, “Collaborating with the Jacksonville Jaguars is a significant milestone for Eternal Fan. Our mission is to provide fans with meaningful ways to celebrate their passion, and integrating our installations within the Jaguars’ new stadium infrastructure aligns perfectly with this vision. We’re excited to give Jaguars fans a timeless way to commemorate their loyalty and become a lasting part of the team’s story.”
The collaboration follows earlier initiatives like the Eternal Fan Racing Piston at NASCAR’s Richmond Raceway, where fans can secure treasured items at the track they love. The type of items secured often include pictures, hats or other meaningful memorabilia, as well as sealed cremated remains.
Now, Eternal Fan is helping professional teams and venues build dedicated Fan Memorial installations to be the home of Fan Spaces and keepsake programs — creating long-term emotional and financial value for both fans and franchises.
“For most people, their obituary sums up a life in two sentences,” Linn said. “But when you talk to them about what really mattered — those happy memories are often about going to the lake, Disney, or a game. That’s where their joy lives. Eternal Fan is about honoring that joy.”
A Journey Rooted in Funeral Service
Linn’s journey began in traditional funeral care. As a first-generation funeral home owner, he purchased Brosh Chapel, with locations in Cedar Rapids and Solon, and expanded it into a full-service facility complete with an event center/catering company — The Avacentre, which has locations in Cedar Rapids and Anamosa and is one of Iowa’s first standalone spaces designed for both funerals and life celebrations.
“I’ve never been one to follow what people say you can or can’t do,” he said. “We built an event center because we saw families wanted more than a service — they wanted an experience.”
That mindset became the foundation for Eternal Fan, which Linn describes as “learned behavior” from years of listening to families talk about how they wanted to be remembered.
From Obituaries to Fan Memorials
The spark for Eternal Fan came when Linn noticed how deeply people identified with the things they loved — especially sports. “People move around more now, and community loyalty looks different,” he said. “But fans? They’re loyal forever.”
After an early partnership with a NASCAR driver, Eternal Fan built a stainless-steel “piston memorial” at Richmond Raceway, allowing fans’ keepsakes to be created and stored within the track’s structure. COVID-19 delayed expansion plans, but interest never faded.
The piston is 21 feet tall and allows fans to install precious objects for future generations, serving a permanent place for race fans to secure items that remind them of their favorite memories at the track.
Richmond Raceway announced the partnership with Eternal Fan in 2018, dubbing it a Fan Memories program for loyal fans to preserve treasured memories and keepsakes. Pricing and more information can be found here.
When the University of Nebraska regents proposed a burial program under Memorial Stadium, Linn realized the concept could go even further — if presented through a more approachable, celebratory lens.
“We started calling it Fan Spaces and ‘memorial experiences,’” he said. “The terminology matters. We wanted to bring remembrance into a friendlier conversation.”
A Win-Win for Fans, Venues and Funeral Homes
Eternal Fan operates as an adviser and consulting partner to sports organizations, helping them develop memorial and keepsake programs using underutilized areas such as self-storage or on-site facilities. Each venue is treated as a blank canvas — customized to reflect its brand, architecture, and fan culture.
The result is a sustainable business model that generates recurring revenue for the team or venue while giving fans a deeply personal way to stay connected.
“We’re not a brick-and-plaque fundraising company,” Linn explained. “We’re a long-term revenue partner. People may forget about a brick, but they’ll come back to see a game or a match where their loved one’s memory lives.”
For funeral professionals, Eternal Fan represents a new frontier for service partnerships. The company hires or collaborates with local funeral homes near each venue, creating opportunities for licensed professionals to provide cremation or memorial services connected to the fan program.
“It’s a win-win,” Linn said. “We’re not taking anything away from funeral homes — we’re expanding where remembrance can happen.”
Designing “Functional Art” for Legacy
Every Eternal Fan installation blends design, technology and emotion. Linn calls it “functional art.” From sleek, discreet wall installations to sculptural memorial pieces, the company works closely with local artisans and venue architects to ensure each project feels native to its surroundings.
“Jacksonville has been a perfect example,” Linn said. “We’re producing inventory that’s already moving. Fans love the idea of being part of their team forever.”
Pricing and more information on the 904EVER Club can be found here.
And the idea is spreading fast. Linn has met with Premier League teams in London, college athletic programs, amusement parks and is even seeking to execute a partnership with the National Park Service, exploring how Eternal Fan’s model can help preserve memories while honoring natural and cultural spaces.
Changing the Conversation Around Deathcare
While Eternal Fan’s expansion into sports and lifestyle venues might seem worlds away from traditional deathcare, Linn insists it’s deeply connected.
“When people hear words like ‘urns’ or ‘cremation,’ they cringe,” he said. “But talk about memories, teams, and legacy—that’s when they open up. Eternal Fan is helping us knock down that barrier.”
He envisions a network of 200 Eternal Fan locations both in the United States and abroad, each one supported by nearby funeral professionals who understand the mission of modern remembrance.
“We’re giving families options that feel natural and uplifting,” Linn said. “This is about connection, not just disposition.”
Looking Ahead
Eternal Fan’s growth is accelerating, supported by multi-year partnerships that provide both emotional value and financial sustainability. As Linn puts it, the company is “self-funded but now ready for expansion.”
The ultimate goal? To make Eternal Fan synonymous with celebration and legacy —wherever people are most passionate.
“We’ve always helped families tell the story of a life,” Linn said. “Now, we’re helping them tell that story in the places that meant the most to them.”
Takeaways for Funeral Professionals
- Partnership potential: Funeral homes near Eternal Fan venues can become the preferred service providers for fans and families participating in memorial programs.
- New revenue streams: The Eternal Fan model offers ideas for how funeral professionals can engage with communities beyond their chapels—through experiences tied to passion, identity, and place.
- Modern remembrance: By blending celebration with legacy, Eternal Fan demonstrates how deathcare can evolve from solemnity toward storytelling and shared emotion.
One word that defines Eternal Fan?
“Connection,” Linn said. “That’s what we’re all really here for.”
