Hawai'i Bowl date to be reviewed

By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Staff Writer

Officials of the Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl said they have yet to decide whether the game will remain on Christmas Eve or move to another date.

Having the Hawai'i Bowl on Christmas Eve proved to be a hit for the young and old alike as 38,322 watched Hawai'i's win over UAB. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

"The date is open to review annually," said Pete Derzis, executive vice president of ESPN Regional Television (ERT), which owns and operates the game. "It is just too premature to decide anything right now."

ERT chose the Christmas Eve slot this year rather than go head-to-head with the NFL yesterday.

"Obviously, the NFL schedule influences and dictates a lot of our planning," Derzis said. "ESPN's programming is a big part of that also. Once we have all of our information gathered, we'll get some recommendations from our executive committee here in Hawai'i as well as our partner conferences (the Western Athletic Conference and Conference USA) and make a decision around (February)."

Derzis said Friday's game was "a success on all fronts. We're very happy with how it all turned out. There was an exciting game for the fans and television audience and I know both teams had a good time."

Jim Donovan, the game's executive director, said, "I had hoped for, maybe, 40,000, but you've got to be happy with a crowd like this and a wonderful game like both teams gave us."

Since UH didn't clinch its berth in the bowl until Dec. 4, bowl officials had said that a crowd count "north of 30,000 would be a success" for the game.

Only once in the past two seasons has UH had a turnstile crowd of more than the 38,322 that attended Friday's game.

The NCAA requires bowls to average a turnstile crowd count of 25,000 or 70 percent of stadium capacity, or face review of their licenses.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.