The University of Hawaii would be “comfortable” with a new 30,000- to 35,000-seat stadium on the current Aloha Stadium footprint but wants greater opportunities to share in the revenue, UH officials said Thursday.
A day after the Aloha Stadium Authority accepted a consultant’s report that conceptualized a facility to replace the 42-year-old, 50,000-seat stadium, members of the UH Board Of Regents Committee on Intercollegiate Athletics questioned school administrators about the issue.
UH President David Lassner told regents, “Our goal is to have a more favorable financial relationship with the stadium where we play football so that it becomes a revenue opportunity for us as it is for most other universities around the country.”
UH is one of two schools in the 12-member Mountain West Conference that do not own or operate their own football stadiums.
UH can resell some parking spots and sells field-level advertising but does not share in most parking and advertising revenue and does not profit from concessions. UH does not pay rent at Aloha Stadium but does pay approximately $90,000-$100,000 per game for operations, including clean-up, security and electricity.
Although not specifically naming UH, the 181-page “Aloha Stadium Conceptual Redevelopment Report” addressed the possibility of the school getting a bigger cut saying, “… it is likely that several of the new revenue streams could be shared with the primary tenant, including stadium naming rights, advertising and sponsorships and luxury seating premiums.”
The report noted, “In a year of stabilized operations, it is estimated that operations of a new Aloha Stadium could generate approximately $5.2 million in annual income … after funding of a capital reserve but prior to any revenue sharing with the stadium’s primary tenant.”
Athletic director David Matlin said UH was interviewed for the consultant’s report.
Former athletic director Ben Jay had commissioned a 2014 study envisioning a 30,585-seat multi-purpose stadium for UH that was not site specific. Committee chairman Jeff Portnoy inquired about the possibility of UH having its own stadium, either in Manoa or West Oahu, asking, “Is that now off the table and the commitment is to whatever stadium the state builds … or are there still some possibilities of the university building its own stadium on university land owned and operated by the university?”
Lassner said, “I would not say it is off the table. As a good citizen of this state I do not believe that two stadiums are required. The Stadium Authority is in position it is in along the rail line (and at a site) that people are used to with opportunities for commercial mixed-use development and a public-private partnership.”
Lassner said, “The best way to say this is that we’re keeping our options open and we’re very hopeful that we will be able to work with the Stadium Authority. But we have not foreclosed other kinds of possibilities.”