Hawaii can be grateful to professional football players for their open desire that the Pro Bowl return to Aloha Stadium next year. Tourism benefits enormously from the event, and all-star players consider a trip to the islands a rewarding end to the season. The NFL appears to recognize that its three-decade partnership with Hawaii cannot be easily discarded, nor should it be.
The new agreement is effective only for next year’s Jan. 27 Pro Bowl, for which the state will pay $4 million to the NFL plus $152,000 for operating costs, the same as last year’s deal. Ray Anderson, the NFL’s executive vice president of football operations, said, "The players have made it clear through the NFL Players Association that they would like the opportunity to continue to play the Pro Bowl in Hawaii."
Indeed, the message is clear that the decision to depart Honolulu was a mistake, and the two sides are now engaged in discussions for a seven-year arrangement that would solidly renew the tradition.
The league and the players also rightly agree that the game should look more like real football, without numerous rules intended to avoid player injuries: no blitzing, no attempts to block kicks, various constraints on the offense and allowing intentional grounding of passes, among the rules that have made it come too close to resembling touch football.
As timid as those might have been, last year’s game at Aloha Stadium was watched on television by 12.5 million viewers, the second-largest TV audience for the game since 2001. Next January’s game will be televised by NBC, again showing fans and players basking in Hawaii’s sun during the middle of winter.
Gov. Neil Abercrombie, who dissed the Pro Bowl soon after taking office last year, now recognizes the value of providing "a renewed experience for the game next year for the players, visitors, people of Hawaii and fans the world over." Last year’s game accounted for $28.6 million in visitor spending and more than $3 million in state taxes from people who came here for the game.
The advantages extend beyond those benefits. The NFL has provided generous grants to Native Hawaiian nonprofit organizations, and $1 million four years ago for construction of a Youth Education Town center in Nanakuli. The players make numerous visits and fundraisers on Oahu benefiting hospitals and other charities.
The Pro Bowl has been at Aloha Stadium every year since 1980 under an agreement with the Hawaii Tourism Authority with the exception of 2010, when it was played in Miami, site of that year’s Super Bowl. One of the recent changes has scheduled the Pro Bowl the Saturday before the Super Bowl, instead of a week after. The new scheduling has the effect of the NFL title players avoiding the Pro Bowl to avoid injuries.
The agreement to return the Pro Bowl to Honolulu is a promising step toward restoring what has been a valuable tradition for pro football, its most outstanding players and Hawaii as host. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell had said the game should be canceled if improvements were not made. Fortunately, that option has been set aside.
