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Pro Bowl comes back to Islands; HTA has change of heart
By Scary Barry and Super Bowl Wayne Lavelle March 6, 2009 |
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HONOLULU--Three times the charm and the Hawaii Tourism Authority after rejecting the NFL's two previous offers to bring back the Pro Bowl to Hawaii was accepted for the third try on Friday in Honolulu. It took the efforts of some high level officials in Hawaii, Lt.Governor Duke Aiona, Honolulu Mayor Hufi Hannemann and HTA's board chairman Kelvin Bloom to get the rest of the board to accept the NFL's offer of $4 million a year in the 9-1 vote. Kyoko Kimura was the only dissenting vote, Kimura was representing Maui. Sharon Weiner changed her vote to yes after hearing it from hoteliers, airlines, retail and Mayor Hannemann who told her how vital it was to Hawaii to have the Pro Bowl back, "you have to have balance marketing needs with the needs of the community." said Weiner. The State of Hawaii stands to gain between $23-30 million from the Pro Bowl. The HTA rejected the NFL's first two offers because the NFL wanted the option to move the Pro Bowl to any scheduled Super Bowl city and then move the game back to Hawaii at future scheduled dates. The NFL also countered with games to be played before the Super Bowl and that it would be a contract that would be renewed after one or two years. The NFL has agreed that if the Pro Bowl in Miami is a failure which is also scheduled to be played before the Super Bowl in 2010 than they seriously would consider extending the contract for Hawaii beyond 2012. Further the Pro Bowl players and the NFL Players Association had been putting pressure on the league to move the game back to Honolulu under veil threats that some of the marquee players just wouldn't show up for the event if it's not played in Honolulu. The players made it clear to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell that Pro Bowl week is a reward for the players and their families at the end of the season for doing well all year long and to take it away and move it to say Miami did not appeal to no one the players had it communicated to Goodell it would be a good idea to leave the game in Honolulu. Meanwhile local retailers were thankful to Aiona, Hannemann and Bloom for seeing it through. If this vote had failed a third time the NFL was exploring taking the Pro Bowl to the 2011-12 Super Bowl cities. "San Francisco has the 49ers, Denver has the Broncos and Hawaii has the Pro Bowl" said Aiona. Besides it's the only time that the show ever comes to Hawaii just once a year. Super Bowl Wayne and Scary Barry cover the NFL for Sportstalk Radio |
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