Hawaii Tourism Authority to sponsor 3 Big West championships

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The Hawaii Tourism Authority will be a presenting sponsor for three Big West Conference championship events, including bringing the men’s volleyball tournament to SimpliFi Arena for the next two years.

Plans call for UH to host the 2021 and 2022 Big West men’s volleyball championship presented by the Hawaii Tourism Authority on campus while the 2023 championship will be held at UC Irvine.

The 2019 championship at UH drew more than 20,000 spectators over three days and helped launch the Rainbow Warriors to the NCAA tournament.

The contract does not include women’s volleyball, for which there currently is no tournament.

While the men’s volleyball portion was expected, men’s and women’s basketball is an addition. The 2021 Big West men’s and women’s basketball championships are scheduled for Las Vegas.

A location for 2022 and ‘23 has yet to be decided. Big West officials were not immediately available to say whether SimpliFi Arena might also be considered as a site for a future conference basketball championship tournament or if the event would revert to the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., its home for the past 19 years, after 2021.

Hosting tournaments on a home floor is important because the winner secures the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA championships.

Under terms of a deal that is to run to Aug. 31, 2023, the contract reads HTA will pay the conference $500,000 over the life of the agreement beginning with $166,000 the first year.

In return HTA will be designated an “official corporate partner” with signage, social media, digital, promotional and other benefits. It will also have commercials on ESPN3.

“Hawaii has many dedicated University of Hawaii volleyball and basketball fans, plus most of our visitors from the U.S. mainland come from California, so this is a wonderful opportunity to promote our iconic brand, share our Hawaiian culture, and support UH Athletics,” HTA President John De Fries said in a statement.

In previous years HTA has sponsored games and a training camp by the Los Angeles Clippers at UH and in 2019 brought a Los Angeles Rams-Dallas Cowboys exhibition game to Aloha Stadium.