LIHUE >> The NFL Quarterback Challenge, Kauai's premier annual tourism promotion event, will be moved to Los Angeles for 2003 but likely will return to the Garden Isle in 2004, the National Football League said yesterday. NFL TV event will skip
Kauai for 2003
By Anthony Sommer
tsommer@starbulletin.comThe made-for-television skills contest, which is aired on CBS, brings many of the top NFL quarterbacks and several retired quarterbacks to Kauai after the Pro Bowl every year.
The NFL said yesterday that it is in negotiations for a new contract with the event sponsor, DirectTV. A dollar amount has been agreed on, but none of the promotional details have been resolved, so the league could not guarantee it could conduct the event in February.
It is being moved to Los Angeles and will piggyback on an NFL quarterback golf tournament that has a firm sponsor. Both events will be shown on national television.
The NFL Quarterback Challenge was born on Kauai in 1989 but moved to Disney World in Florida in 1993 after Vidinha Stadium in Lihue was demolished by 1992's Hurricane Iniki. Kauai won it back three years ago.
A key part of the package is that 22 minutes of the two-hour program shows the NFL stars at play on Kauai -- golfing, hiking, fishing and other visitor activities. The program drew 2.5 million TV viewers last year, more than any other televised Hawaii sports event except the NFL Pro Bowl, according to the Kauai Economic Development Board.
National Football League
County of Kauai
