NFL Pro Bowlers seem to agree: Orlando is nice, but it’s not Hawaii
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Carolina’s Thomas Davis competed in the Epic Pro Dodgeball event at the 2017 Pro Bowl Skills Challenge Wednesday in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
ORLANDO, Fla. >> As the NFL plays its first Pro Bowl in Orlando, wondering if it can be a long-term landing point for the beleaguered all-star game, Drew Brees can’t help but think about what was left behind.
The Saints quarterback understands the NFL’s decision to move the Pro Bowl from Aloha Stadium to Orlando from a business standpoint. Still, the 10-time Pro Bowler feels for Honolulu and the loss of the game it had become synonymous with.
“It’s tough that it’s not there, because we had a great fan base there,” Brees said. “I know those fans appreciated it. They lived for that. They don’t have an NFL team and there are a lot of football fans there.”
With hopes of re-energizing an end of the season all-star game that has lost interest and intrigue over the years, the NFL made the decision to shop the Pro Bowl. Orlando ended up the winner, agreeing to a two-year contract to host the contest at Camping World Stadium, with an option for a third.
The players on hand agreed this week that Orlando is nice, but it’s no Hawaii.
This will be just the third time since 1979 that the Pro Bowl has been played outside of Honolulu.
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“It’s always a fun week no matter where it is, but guys as a whole would certainly rather have it in Hawaii,” said Browns left tackle Joe Thomas, who will make his 10th straight Pro Bowl appearance Sunday night. “Orlando has been a great host so far.”
If all goes well, Orlando and its 75,000-seat stadium have hopes of being the permanent home of the Pro Bowl. The city believes it has everything to offer that Honolulu has and then some as one of the world’s most popular vacation destinations; last year Orlando accommodated 66 million visitors.
In addition to warm weather and beaches in the area, Orlando views itself as much more family friendly as the home to Disney World and three other major theme parks in the vicinity.
“We have so many different and all types of amenities,” said Orlando mayor Buddy Dyer. “Everybody knows the theme parks but we have sporting activities, we have great golf, we have great fishing, we have the beaches nearby, and there aren’t that many places where you can go to the beach in January.”
The NFL was looking for a landing spot that could make the Pro Bowl more of a weeklong celebration that culminates with the game Sunday, much like the Super Bowl.
Orlando’s major resource, Disney World, allows the NFL to showcase all levels of the game from flag football to high school football this week at the theme park’s sports complex.
Additionally, many of the 88 Pro Bowl participants have invited their high school coaches to take part in the week with them.
“We loved what we were doing in Hawaii, but the ability to bring so many parts of our football community together around this makes it really unique,” said Peter O’Reilly, NFL senior vice president of events.
Still, there is no getting around the game itself has to be a success for any chance that the relationship between Orlando and the NFL will continue.
The Pro Bowl has long been a tough sell. It lacks the intensity of the regular season — some say even of preseason games — and many of the invited players don’t come. Some, of course, are Super Bowl participants and not available. But the rate of dropouts citing injuries is steep, which has caused interest to fade.
There is hope that by moving the game out of Hawaii attendance and interest in the Pro Bowl will pick up. Orlando and the NFL have not provided exact numbers, but Florida Citrus Sports CEO Steve Hogan said this week the game is near a sellout.
“We have to do our job, the league also needs to make sure they have a viable product,” Hogan said.” I think they do and I hope they do and I hope it’s here. We can’t control that.”
30 responses to “NFL Pro Bowlers seem to agree: Orlando is nice, but it’s not Hawaii”
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Mahalo Pro Bowlers for favoring Hawaii over Orlando. See you guys next year.
If you read the article you would have noticed that Orlando has a two year contract with a third year option. So no, you won’t see them next year.
/facepalm
kiragirl’s posts are not known for their accuracy nor showing off the basic skill of reading comprehension.
Who wants to watch touch football? HTA makes all the money while UH gets no help from them. Let Warrior football be the only game in town to attract the die hard football fans.
It doesn’t matter. The fans do not fill the stadium, anymore.
At least we don’t have gators here.
The pro bowl sucks Period.
straight up!
I’m sure the players wives would rather come here, than anywhere else.
What? They can’t AFFORD to pay their own way??
Anywhere but here!
Youngblood!! Why don’t u leave !! Don’t talk crap about hawaii.
Youngblood from Wyoming.
Orlando or anyplace for that matter does not have the hawaiian culture, food, unique scenery, and people….period!!!
Yeah…plenty places have even BETTER. Just minus the Hawaiian “culture”.
After all tax breaks and perks we give back to the NFL, Hawaii actually loses. Oh, but the Hawaii Visitors Bureau put’s out some bogus news flash, Hawaii makes Millions, Yeah right. The only guys who make in Hawaii are Members of the HVB
I’ve heard three pro bowlers who were interviewed in sports radio. One of them said that they bring 14 people to Hawaii and drop about 4 large per. $56,000, and that’s just ONE player dropping $50K here. How, eyes rolling, some stupids on this board say we are losing money. Really? A former coworker of mind brought each of his sons to watch a pro bowl. He spent $11,000 on each trip here–AS A FAN! Wow, eyes rolling again, I don’t understand the stupids on this board saying that the pro bowl doesn’t generate revenue here. The game sells out here–50,000 people! Say 20,000 come from the mainland. Drop $5,000 per person. That’s $10 MILLION. Now count the other 30,000 people, too. So the state of Hawaii would pay $4 MILLION each year to the NFL. The payback is a multiple. Then there’s all that free advertising. I’ve had 6 former coworkers on the mainland book family trips to Hawaii because they live in the snow belt and saw all the epic beach and mountain scenery during the pro bowl game. Wow, the advertising works!
Hawaii is done with the Pro Bowl. Losing proposition for most here except for those who profit from it at the expense of the tax payer.
I expect that the Pro Bowl will not continue on for much longer. It’s day is past. It is just an exhibition game now and no pros are going to risk their career and
get injured. Other than the paycheck and free vacation, nothing in it for them.
“Seem to agree” and “confirm” are two very different statements. Good luck to Orlando! Honolulu will continue to move forward and not dwell on the past and look on to bigger and better things… (yeah right).
PRO BOWLERS SHOULD SEND THEIR FAMIIES TO HAWAII A WEEK B4 THE GAME, THEN JOIN THEIR FAMILIES FOR ANUDDA WEEK AFTER THE GAME. WIN-WIN-WIN-WIN!
Yes I think as a player, I would be more inclined to want to participate in the event if it was in Hawaii.
It’s simply….special…like the pro bowlers.
the pro bowl game itself has changed since athletes realized that a meaningless game played at the intensity of a season or play off game is ridiculous.
fans who have come to expect the controlled violence on the field of an nfl game come away disappointed. but, it’s not the players’ fault. who would risk a lucrative career playing at top speed in a meaningless game that barely pays enough to cover the shopping and dining on the trip.
there isn’t a fix for the pro bowl in the near future. it’s not the baseball or basketball all star game where there is a semblance of players playing at their best without the career ending risk that is always present in an nfl game.
aloha means goodbye. we had a good run with it until it changed.
if the nfl wants the game returned to hawaii, make it pay for the upgrades. don’t stick hawaii taxpayers with the bill. once nfl players start to no-show in orlando, the nfl will try to return to hawaii. again, make the nfl pay for any upgrades needed to the stadium to hold the pro bowl here.
Yeah and make them pay for their own airline tickets, hotel and transportation. They can afford it. Hawaii residents donʻt need to subsidize this.
Keep it there. Only causes headaches here. The powers that be don’t know how to run the Bowl game here. Massive traffic jams, confusion on entry gates etc. Most people here losing interest in it.
I think the Pro Bowl has outlived it’s days; Who wants to see a bunch of guys just go through the motions?? Not worth the ticket price’s they charge. Might be better to go to a foreign country where fans there might be thrilled to see these so called stars play make believe football.
According to Drew Brees we have a fan base that lives for the ProBowl. “They lived for that.” It’s true. Every morning I wake up and decide to keep living just in case the Pro Bowl returns. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to make the NFL more money. Now, that’s living!
Pro bowl players would spend extra time in Hawaii, bring their families, visit other islands. Orlando is “Been there, done that” go home right after the game.
One has to remember the NFL has one and only one mission. Leech off of fans as much as possible, take, take, take. There is never enough money for the bureaucrats in charge. Personal seat licenses are just another ripoff and one of hundreds of reasons behind declining viewership. Current commissioner is a total loser.
Do you want to see good football or see popular football players? If you want to see good football, at least where players go all out, then perhaps we should change the format. Instead of Pro Bowl…how about Pre-Season Bowl with lower tier players showcasing themselves prior to final cuts? Won’t be as glamorous as the Pro Bowl but at least the game should be entertaining.
poor NFL, always losing money. how do they even stay in business?
We can offer beach and watersports. Orlando can offer that too and May Day festival games. Orlando is going to show a good face for the next pro bowls that they have. Their motivation is that the Jacksonville Jaguars will move there.