Hula Bowl appears
on its way out

The all-star game may not be
played on Maui, which makes
Aloha Stadium a possibility

The Hula Bowl may be on its way to Aloha Stadium -- or not. Regardless, it definitely appears to be on its way out of War Memorial Stadium, judging from comments by Maui Mayor Alan Arakawa.

"Quite frankly, it's not making money. It's losing money and attendance is fairly poor," Arakawa said in a phone interview yesterday. "We've done a lot of different things to help it survive, but it just hasn't worked."

The 60-year-old college all-star game lost $400,000 in 2003 and 2004, and those debts haven't been paid yet.

"The public really speaks with not showing up on game day. It has not been successful," Arakawa added. "We feel if they want to move to Oahu they're a business entity and they should give it their best shot. (Previous owner) Lenny Klompus did a fantastic job. There was money in the bank when he left, contracts with TV, radio, the Heisman Trophy people. All those advantages, and not being able to get it rolling, maybe the venue might not be the best."

The game's owners are exploring returning it to Aloha Stadium, where it was before it was moved to Maui eight years ago.

A meeting of Hula Bowl and stadium management has been set for Monday.

A statement that the Hula Bowl will be played at Aloha Stadium on Jan. 21, 2006, was attributed to Hula Bowl CEO Kenny Hansmire in yesterday's Pacific Business News. That is premature, though.

"We're surprised. We haven't committed to anything yet," stadium spokesman Patrick Leonard said.

Also, approval must be attained from the Stadium Authority.

Hansmire and game president Mark Salmans have not returned repeated calls from the Star-Bulletin, which reported that Salmans toured the stadium last month and was probably ready to move the game.

Hula Bowl representatives also met once with Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann and have spoken with a Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau official.

"As a courtesy, they contacted the mayor's office," Hannemann spokesman Mark Matsunaga said. "We did not solicit them, and we haven't heard from them since. If the game does come back, Mayor Hannemann would look to assist it as he would any major sports event."

Rex Johnson of the Hawaii Tourism Authority said the HTA provided $25,000 to the Hula Bowl last year, but proposals for funding for next year won't be reviewed until August.

"There's certainly been talk about the game being at Aloha Stadium," he said. "The Hula Bowl will likely be one of the many proposals that comes through our door this year."

The Hula Bowl was moved to Maui in 1997 because of lagging attendance on Oahu.

During the week before this year's game, Hansmire said the 2005 event was already close to breaking even financially. The game drew fewer than 8,000 fans. Still, Hansmire said he expected the game would return to Maui in 2006, but stopped short of guaranteeing it.

Late in 2004 the Salmans and Hansmire group bought the game and secured a five-year, $2.5 million sponsorship agreement with Credit Unions of America.

Hansmire has strong ties to the American Football Coaches Association, which has supported the game since even before the Klompus ownership era.

The NFL does not provide financial support, but every team sends scouts to check out what has become in recent years mostly mid- to late-round draft talent. (In earlier years, first-day draft talent, including Heisman Trophy winners, was a regular Hula Bowl attraction.)

The game is shown annually on ESPN, and the network is contracted to show the next three Hula Bowls.