Local bowl games headed to San Francisco, Seattle
| • | Hawai'i tourism loses with departure of bowl games |
By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Staff Writer
The University of Hawai'i will be "proactive" in its attempts to find a new hometown bowl opportunity for its football team following yesterday's departure of the Aloha and O'ahu bowls, athletic director Hugh Yoshida said.
Advertiser library photo • Dec. 25, 2000
But Fritz Rolfing, executive director Aloha Sports Inc., said any new game would run up against many of the same problems that drove his games away, including declining attendance.
The final Aloha Bowl game on Dec. 25 between Boston College and Arizona State drew a sparse gathering.
The former Jeep Aloha Bowl, which has been held at Aloha Stadium since 1982, will become the Jeep San Francisco Bowl at Pacific Bell Park on Dec. 30, according to the NCAA, whose Football Certification Subcommittee approved the move.
The O'ahu Bowl will move to Seattle's Safeco Field, where it will become the Jan. 2 Jeep Seattle Bowl.
The moves leave the state without a holiday college bowl game and the Warriors without a postseason bowl guarantee, although Rohlfing said he would continue to "consider" UH for the Seattle Bowl.
"Obviously, though, it is a different ballgame now," Yoshida said.
Two of the largest crowds, a 1989 Aloha Bowl sellout, and an announced attendance of more than 40,000 for the 1999 O'ahu Bowl, both involved UH.
Rohlfing said problems that drove his games away included lack of state support, travel distance and a narrow window for fans attempting to follow their teams from the Mainland.
"But if somebody new can find a solution we were unable to, fine," Rohlfing said. "Great, I'd be the first one to buy a ticket to the game."
Since 1998, there had been a handshake agreement between Bowl Games of Hawai'i, the previous operator of the bowls, and UH to invite the Warriors if they won seven or more games in a 12-game regular season.
The deal opened the way for UH to appear in the 1999 O'ahu Bowl, where the Warriors upset Oregon State in head coach June Jones' first season.
UH has made two of its three NCAA bowl appearances here.
When Rohlfing took over the bowls last year after purchasing them for $1.7 million, he said he agreed to consider UH as a replacement for an Atlantic Coast Conference team in the O'ahu Bowl.
But UH slumped to 3-9 last season and games matching Arizona State-Boston College and Georgia-Virginia on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day drew less than 25,000 combined.
Yoshida said moving the bowls was "unfortunate; something we've been trying to prepare for."
Yoshida, who is in Monterey, Calif., attending the Western Athletic Conference spring meetings, said he will again be talking to conference commissioner Karl Benson about possible options.
In addition, Yoshida said, "We've talked to some people at the Tourism Authority to see what we might be able to do."
Benson said, "It is more than likely too late to do something for this year, but we will certainly look very seriously at what we can do to help establish a game in Hawai'i."
The WAC, whose tie-in with the Mobile Bowl was not renewed, is looking to add other bowl slots to its lineup, which includes the Silicon Valley Bowl in San Jose, Calif., and Humanitarian Bowl in Boise, Idaho.
The NCAA has a moratorium on bowl expansion through 2002, according to a spokesman. However, a bowl that is currently certified could be moved here.
Benson said, "It is too early to identify possible bowls at this point, but it is something we'd take a look at after the bowl season."
Benson said, "It (Hawai'i) is still a very attractive location for a bowl game. A game there would have a lot going for it."
Still to be worked out is who will televise the games from San Francisco and Seattle. ESPN, which has a year to go on its contract with Rohlfing, and ABC, whose contract is being renegotiated, want to keep the games on Christmas where they face little competition from sports programming. But Rohlfing said to draw larger crowds the change in dates was necessary.
An ESPN spokesman said, "They are required to get our consent to change the date or time — and they did not."
Rohlfing said if he and the networks are unable to reach agreement he will find new broadcast partners, if necessary.
No matter what happens with TV, however, Rohlfing said the games are gone from Hawai'i.
"For us, he economics of the games meant it was either a case of move them (from Hawai'i) or lose them."
