NCAA to rule It's possible Honolulu -- which hosted no postseason college football games last year -- could become a two-bowl town again. But only if the NCAA decides two games in four days this December makes sense.
on Hawaii bowl games
3 groups offer proposals today
and the NCAA will decide
tomorrow or ThursdayBy Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.comIf the NCAA grants them re-certification today, the owners of the Aloha Bowl plan to bring it back to Hawaii, staging the game at Aloha Stadium on Dec. 28. Two other groups want to put on games on Christmas Day.
"We've got the stadium reserved," Aloha Bowl partner Terry Daw said. "And we have an agreement with a major network -- an over-the-air network."
Aloha Bowl, Inc. is one of three entities expected to make proposals to the NCAA football bowl certification committee today in San Antonio.
The others are ESPN and Global Event Management (GEM, which runs the Motor City Bowl). Both want the University of Hawaii in their Christmas Day game if the Warriors are eligible for postseason play.
Ken Hoffman of GEM said it would be very unlikely that the NCAA would certify two games for the same day in the same city.
"The winner is Hawaii because there are three applications," Hoffman said. "Unless something unforeseen happens, they should certify one. I can't imagine more than one for the same place, on the same date."
But two in four days? That remains to be seen. The NCAA is expected to release its decisions tomorrow or Thursday.
The ESPN group is tied in with the Western Athletic Conference and Conference USA. Hoffman said he is working on conference tie-ins and sponsorship.
Daw told the Star-Bulletin that his group is in negotiations with "major conferences." When asked if that would mean UH could not play in a new Aloha Bowl, his answer was "no comment."
The Aloha and Oahu bowls were played here until last year. But dwindling attendance landed the Oahu Bowl in Seattle, where it became the Seattle Bowl. The Aloha Bowl was not held anywhere, in any form, last year; the owners had difficulty securing a host city, and the NCAA sent the owners a letter requesting the game not be played for a year.
"They gave us a letter allowing us to keep our certification without playing the game. We are the only certified game (in Hawaii)," Daw said last night. (The Aloha Bowl, does, however, have to be re-certified annually, like all bowl games.)
Daw said he is negotiating with 989 Sports, the division of Sony that markets PlayStation games, to sponsor the Aloha Bowl (it sponsored the Seattle Bowl last year).
The other two groups don't have title sponsorship locked up, though Hoffman said he has possibilities. But title sponsorship is not a necessity for certification, especially with strong TV backing.
Corporate financial support for bowl games has been hard to come by the past year, and the Rose, Citrus, Alamo and Holiday bowls have all lost major sponsors. While the NCAA prefers that TV not own games, it could be a trend -- especially if ESPN (backed by the conferences) gets certification for what would be called the Hawaii Bowl.
But what if UH is not bowl eligible?
"We do think Hawaii's capable of supporting two bowl games, and we'll be bringing major college football," Daw said. "(UH) only played in two bowl games in Hawaii. People forget that. We hope that UH is bowl eligible, but statistically that hasn't always been the case."
And what if the Warriors have a great season and are eligible for what might be a more attractive game?
That might cause problems in 2002 and 2003, but probably not in the final two years of the proposed contract.
"The deal with ESPN says we must play in the game if we're eligible for only the next two years," UH associate athletic director Jim Donovan said. "It's not good for anyone to perceive it longterm as the University of Hawaii's bowl game."