It turns out there is Hawaii sports betting, of sorts.

The catch is that this game of chance is open to visitors only, specifically those from the Big West Conference, where most of the University of Hawaii’s athletic teams compete.

Officially, of course, it is termed “travel cost sharing” in contractual language — a euphemism for the approximately $1.2 million in annual travel subsidies UH pays per its conditions of membership when it signed on with the Big West and Mountain West conferences for 2012 after the fragmentation of the Western Athletic Conference.

In neither conference do the home teams cough up a red cent for the travel of the Rainbow Warriors or Rainbow Wahine.

Depending on how adventurous — or risk averse — the visiting schools are and how adroitly they manage things, UH’s Big West opponents can make some money, lose some or take the no-risk route on a proposition that is unique in major college athletics.

For example Cal State Northridge, tonight’s opponent for the Rainbow Warriors at the Stan Sheriff Center, is among those that usually choose to take the safe play and let UH handle its travel arrangements for trips to Manoa.

Here’s how it works: Before the start of the year, the eight other members of the Big West notify UH whether they will take what is behind curtain No. 1 or curtain No. 2.

The first is the guarantee of Hawaii, through its travel partner, Panda, booking the round-trip transportation here free of cost to the visitor. The second is chancing it by taking cash, approximately $75,000 per school per year, from UH up front and doing the booking themselves.

If they book through UH — and they must notify the school of travel plans at least 30 days before the trip — then any jump in airfare or fuel surcharges is UH’s problem.

If, however, an opponent chooses to book arrangements on its own, then they receive $500 a head for the designated travel party (19 for men’s basketball, 21 for women’s basketball, 23 for water polo, 28 for soccer, 32 for baseball, etc. plus eight wild card tickets over the course of an academic year).

The trade-off is that they assume the risk that comes with any fluctuation in the price of airfare or changes they make. If fuel prices go up in the interim, tough luck.

In times when prices are low, however, visitors who choose the cash option and capably manage their reservations have been known to pocket a few bucks. Or, they can choose to send a smaller squad and bank some cash that way.

Like CSUN, most teams have chosen to have travel booked for them, UH says. “What we’ve seen is that usually one or two schools a year decide to do it themselves,” said associate athletic director Carl Clapp.

One of them has been Cal State Fullerton, where Jim Donovan, a former UH athletic director, is the AD. Donovan said CSUF does it for the flexibility of determining its travel squad in case of late roster changes.

Meanwhile in the MWC, where UH competes in football, visitors from California receive a maximum of $150,000 each. Opponents from beyond receive a maximum of $175,000. They must do their own booking but can choose between commercial or charter flights.

A key difference between the two conferences is that anybody who joins the Big West after UH is required to pay its own travel to Hawaii, the idea being that newcomers knew what they were signing up for when they came aboard. So when UC San Diego and Cal State Bakersfield join in 2020, travel here will be on their dime.

If the MWC had a similar deal, Utah State and San Jose State, who joined in 2013, would be buying their own tickets, as might Boise State and San Diego State, who had announced departures for the then-Big East before scurrying back.

Meanwhile, the odds of anybody paying UH’s travel costs of upwards of $3 million per year is a bet no one is taking.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.