Study finds NFL Pro Bowl drew 22,000 visitors

By Kelly Yamanouchi
Advertiser Staff Writer

This year's Pro Bowl attracted 22,000 tourists and nearly $30 million in visitor dollars to Hawai'i, according to a study released yesterday.

Of the estimated 49,000 spectators at the game on Feb. 8, about 30,000 were visitors and 22,000 of those came to Hawai'i specifically to see the Pro Bowl, according to the study commissioned by the Hawai'i Tourism Authority and conducted by Market Trends Pacific.

Those visitors brought in about $29.5 million in spending and $2.84 million in state taxes, the study said.

"The Pro Bowl is making a pretty decent impact," said Rex Johnson, executive director of the Hawai'i Tourism Authority. "The only place we didn't increase this year is in viewership."

The 2003 game was viewed by 6.3 million households, but this year's game drew only 4.2 million households.

Last year's game brought in 18,000 visitors, $28.07 million in visitor spending and $2.72 million in state taxes, according to the tourism authority.

This year, Hawai'i got a boost from tourists planning to spend more on activities and attractions on O'ahu and on Neighbor Islands, the study said.

The study also concluded:

• Forty-two percent of the visitors who went to the Pro Bowl planned to go to a Neighbor Island also.

• Visitors stayed for an average of 9.3 days, up from 8.6 days last year.

• Thirty-eight percent of visitors said they had household incomes greater than $75,000, down from 50 percent last year.

Market Trends surveyed 420 Hawai'i visitors at the Pro Bowl for the study.

An NFL-commissioned study concluded the Pro Bowl is worth $12.1 million in advertising for Hawai'i.

Johnson said he thinks the visitor-spending figures are more important for the tourism authority's purposes.

According to a report on the tourism authority's findings, "Visitors were asked if they would have attended the Pro Bowl if it were held in a different location (Florida or Southern California). For both locations, a majority of respondents indicated that they would not have attended the game in those locations."

Orlando has been seen as a competitor to host the Pro Bowl. The state of Hawai'i is in talks with the NFL on extending the Pro Bowl contract, which is set to expire after next year's game. Hawai'i has hosted the game for 25 years.

Under the state's current contract, the Hawai'i Tourism Authority spent $5.3 million from its budget for the game and was to pay $5.6 million in 2005.

Larry Johnson, a Hawai'i Tourism Authority board member and the state's chief negotiator for the Pro Bowl, has said it looks like the Pro Bowl will stay in Hawai'i for another five years and that the state will be able to lower its contribution to the game next year.

"Both the NFL and us are positive about the progress we're making but we need to keep working," said Rex Johnson, who returned Thursday from a trip to Chicago with Larry Johnson for negotiations with the NFL. He said the goal is to wrap up talks by mid-May.

Rex Johnson said he could not say that the Pro Bowl would definitely stay in Hawai'i.

"We sure want it to but that's what negotiations are all about," he said.

Reach Kelly Yamanouchi at 535-2470, or at kyamanouchi@honoluluadvertiser.com.