Wednesday, March 3, 1999
WAC tourney
bid ‘impressive’
Commissioner Karl Benson
By Paul Arnett
likes Hawaii's package, but it
must compete with proposals
from six other schools
Star-BulletinLAS VEGAS -- Bowl Games of Hawaii has put together a package to host the Western Athletic Conference basketball tournament, beginning next year at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Executive director Lenny Klompus and Hawaii athletic director Hugh Yoshida held a lengthy meeting on Monday to finalize the proposal for WAC commissioner Karl Benson.
"Hawaii has put together an impressive package," Benson said yesterday afternoon. "I envision Hawaii as a great place to host the men's and women's event next year.
"However, seven of the eight schools plan to make a bid, so we need to review those before reaching a decision. We had hoped to make an announcement this week, but we just weren't able to get everything in place in time."
Klompus said yesterday the Hawaii proposal would be competitive and wouldn't cost the schools a dime. Travel and hotel accommodations would be taken care of by Bowl Games of Hawaii.
Benson is hosting Royal Hawaiian Hotel officials at this week's WAC Tournament at the Thomas and Mack Center. He said yesterday that they were interested in helping defray the costs.
"I believe our proposal is a very strong one," Klompus said. "We can make this happen today if Karl OKs it. I told him he should go ahead and announce it, but he said he needed to wait until all the proposals have been reviewed."
Klompus said Dallas-Fort Worth is the main competition, but league officials said Tulsa and El Paso were also interested in putting packages in place. Benson and Klompus confirmed yesterday that Hawaii's proposal is not tied to the Oahu Bowl.
"I won't deny that I wish the Oahu Bowl would host the WAC champion in football," Benson said. "But it's not a deal-killer. It was never a two-for-one deal. Hopefully, we can lock up something with the Oahu Bowl in the future."
Klompus said ESPN officials are cool to the idea of the Oahu Bowl taking the WAC winner to face a fifth choice from the Pac-10. First, they want to see if the WAC lands a major television deal with Fox Sports West. Second, they want more of an east-west matchup. And third, no one is sure Hawaii fans are interested in seeing a WAC team.
"By all accounts, TCU is the team to beat in the WAC," Klompus said. "They play Hawaii during the regular season at Aloha Stadium. Network officials aren't sure people would pay to see TCU again and, frankly, that's a concern of ours as well.
"I discussed it again with ESPN last week. I felt like I was talking to the knee of a camel. It's so uphill at this point, I think it will be tough to get it done. But it's not over yet."
Should the Oahu Bowl fall through, it's likely the WAC champion would play in the Las Vegas Bowl in 1999. It's also possible the league will have a tie-in with the new Mardi Gras Bowl in Mobile, Ala.
"San Jose wants to host a bowl game in 2000 and our league champion could wind up there," Benson said. "It's possible the two bowls could arrange a deal together in 2000 for our top teams that's more regional-friendly .
"If it's a team from the West, they'd go to San Jose and the team from the East would go to Mobile. But our first option remains Hawaii. It's unfortunate ESPN is taking such a hard-line approach."
At this point, ESPN won't televise next year's WAC Tournament in basketball, either. If a deal can't be reached with Fox, Klompus said he could form his own network with independent TV stations in WAC markets.
"In the first year, we won't make any money on the deal," Klompus said. "But we're trying to help the University of Hawaii and the WAC. We want to see the league succeed."
Rumors abound on possible WAC expansion. Benson would like to see four teams added in the West to balance off the teams in the East. The additions would likely be Nevada, Boise State, New Mexico State and Utah State.
Arkansas State, Louisiana Tech, North Texas and Southwestern Louisiana also have expressed an interest in joining the league. The presidents have been reluctant to move on any expansion until possible litigation against the new Mountain West Conference is considered.
Those familiar with the conference bylaws believe the WAC would win in court and could collect damages ranging from $10 million to $40 million. The eight defectors didn't realize --or didn't care -- that they were a part of a corporation after the league expanded to 16 teams in 1996, and it could cost them.
The athletic directors and presidents in the new league thought the WAC would fold after their defection last summer, but that hasn't happened yet. In Benson's mind, that matter has to be settled soon.
"We need to be proactive," Benson said. "Things can't stay as they are and that's a cause of concern for everyone."
