Bank change could
hit UH in pocketbook

By Paul Arnett
Star-Bulletin

Just what role American Savings Bank F.S.B. will play in the University of Hawaii athletic arena remains to be seen, according to president and chief operating officer Wayne Minami.

It was announced yesterday that American Savings signed a definitive agreement to acquire all of Bank of America Hawaii's retail and commercial operations.

Last year, Bank of America spent $205,000 at UH in sponsorship fees, television and radio advertising, schedule cards, and for the rolling advertising signs in the Special Events Arena and behind home plate at Rainbow Stadium.

UH associate athletic director Jim Donovan announced after this year's Rainbow Easter Baseball Tournament in March that Bank of America would continue its sponsorship of the prestigious event for another three years.

That sponsorship was worth $80,000 this year, but because that agreement was only in memo form, it's not something American Savings will have to honor.

"We're going to be reviewing those sponsorships and contracts," Minami said during yesterday's press conference. "Part of the difficulty is we're not sure when the transactions were closed and many of those contracts may expire during that time. It's difficult to say exactly what's going to happen to them.

"However, we will look very closely at those sponsorships. We have always supported the University of Hawaii and we hope to do so in the future. We can't tell you now how we're going to do it and how we fit in with Bank of America's contracts."

Donovan said yesterday that he didn't want to comment until he had the opportunity to talk with American Savings representatives. He did say two weeks ago that the athletic department couldn't expect agreements reached with Bank of America would automatically apply to a buyer of that bank's area branches.

He also said that an agreement with the new owner could be reached for a lesser amount of money than what Bank of America was willing to spend. In addition to the $80,000 in Rainbow Easter Baseball Tournament sponsorship fees, Donovan said Bank of America also spent about $40,000 on schedule cards for sports events and radio advertising during UH games.

The bank also spent $85,000 to be in the KFVE-TV (Channel 5) television package and for the rotating advertising signs. By comparison, First Hawaiian Bank committed about the same amount of money toward UH athletics as Bank of America. Bank of Hawaii contributed about 31/2 times as much.