Posted on: Friday, October 22, 2004

Why so little Aloha for UH?

By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Columnist

Now that the state is wheeling and dealing like a used car salesman with a crowded lot to clear, when does the University of Hawai'i get its Aloha Stadium "deal"?

When's the press conference to announce the new "win-win" deal for UH?

We're told the state turned over control of Aloha Stadium concessions, parking, advertising signage ... everything (about $300,000) but the deed to the land, it seems, to the NFL as part of the agreement to keep the Pro Bowl here through 2009.

That's on top of the $21 million in cash, an average of $4.2 million per year, the state will pay the NFL over the course of the five years.

Talk about one Halawa sweet deal.

After 25 years of the Pro Bowl in Hawai'i, "it wasn't hard for us to say, let's make it 30," said an NFL official. Small wonder.

Hopefully, the state will make the moolah all back and then some from those 18,000 visitors we're told the Pro Bowl brings in annually. Perhaps those shots of Pro Bowlers lounging on the beach — the ones who show up, anyway — will send more visitors flocking here.

But if there is anything left after the NFL deal, besides the waste can in stadium manager Eddie Hayashi's office, maybe the state could cut UH in for some of the loot, too. For it was with the university in mind that Aloha Stadium was conceived and built. And it has been UH that has been there before the rust.

But the more you look around, it seems like UH is the only one actually paying to play in the place. At as many as eight games per year, UH is both one of the best sources of revenue and the most enduring of tenants.

It pays $800,000 a year in rent, one state entity writing checks to another. And for that princely sum it doesn't get a piece of the parking, concessions or signage. Which is why, apparently, the edge of the playing field is circled in those folding advertisements giving the place the appearance of a soccer match.

For its buck, UH doesn't even get full use of the premises and fans have to vacate the parking lot after the last pass. The baseball press box is reserved for state dignitaries and authority guests instead of being available for UH to tap additional corporate sponsors and boosters.

UH's problem here is leverage. While the NFL can flirt with Orlando, Fla. or Ottumwa, Iowa, about moving the Pro Bowl, UH is apparently stuck.

What is it going to do, threaten to move the Florida Atlantic game to Fresno, Calif?

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