Chief operating officer Lenny Klompus met with AFCA president Grant Teaff during the week of the 50th annual event in January to discuss the proposal.
Because the Senior Bowl has a close affiliation with the National Football League, it made sense to Teaff that the AFCA also should have an event that coaches and players could attend during the postseason.
As part of the deal, the AFCA will cover the $100,000 sanction fee required by the NCAA. The Hula Bowl hasn't been sanctioned since 1993.
Lenny Klompus,
Hula Bowl Chief Operating Officer
Klompus could not be reached for comment yesterday, but said in January that if some arrangement could be reached with the AFCA, it would help solidify the annual all-star game through the end of the century.
As part of today's press conference, Hula Bowl officials also will announce who will coach the East and West all-star teams. It will not be ESPN analysts Lee Corso and Mike Gottfried, a two-year gimmick that helped bring the game back from the edge of extinction.
Aloha Bowl officials took over the Hula Bowl in the fall of 1994 after the University of Hawaii Foundation decided it couldn't handle the financial risk. Hula Bowl executive director Marcia Klompus landed a five-year television deal with ESPN-TV, and secured a five-year contract with the Hooters restaurant chain as title sponsor.
The 50th annual Hula Bowl last January drew a modest crowd of 21,193, and had a national television rating of 1.9.
With the help of ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr., this year's teams had a lot of projected mid-round picks, but not that many high-profile players.
"That's where the AFCA could step in," Klompus said in January. "If the coaches can convince the game's top players to come, it should make a difference."