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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Sunday, November 6, 2005

Hula Bowl name game currently in legal limbo

Advertiser Staff

A resolution over ownership of the name "Hula Bowl" could be reached as early as tomorrow when attorneys representing the new owners and the former owner try to end the dispute.

The Hula Bowl's former owner, Marcia Klompus, said she owns the legal rights to the name "Hula Bowl" and wants the name to remain in Hawai'i. Klompus is a member of the Aloha Stadium Authority and works for Gov. Linda Lingle.

The new owners of the Hula Bowl, Overtime Sports Pacific, have hired an attorney to settle ownership over the bowl's name. The parties are scheduled to talk tomorrow, according to Klompus' attorney Bill McCorriston.

The Hula Bowl college football all-star game will leave Maui after eight years and return to Honolulu for its 60th anniversary at Aloha Stadium on Jan. 21, 2006. Kickoff is 2 p.m. The Hula Bowl is Hawai'i's longest running sports attraction.

Mark Salmans, the game's president and chief operating officer, referred all questions to Hula Bowl headquarters in Georgia. The spokeswoman could not be immediately reached yesterday.

Klompus said she sold the game to Dick Schaller in 2002 with a contractual agreement that the game would remain on Maui for five years. In 2004, Schaller sold the game to Salmans and Kenny Hansmire of Overtime Sports Pacific. Klompus said the new owners violated the contract when they moved the game to O'ahu sooner than stated in the contract.

"In the contract we had with Dick, he could not move the game from Maui for five years, or else the name 'Hula Bowl' was ours," Klompus said. "The contract was violated, so consequently, the name 'Hula Bowl' belongs to me."

Salmans had said earlier the game was moved to O'ahu because of dwindling attendance on Maui, and the move was based "mainly on economics. We need a bigger base of people to come to the game," he said.

On Tuesday, the Aloha Stadium Authority voted to approve hosting the 2006 Hula Bowl. Klompus recused herself from voting because of a conflict of interest. McCorriston said Klompus will recuse herself from voting on Hula Bowl matters until the current dispute is resolved.

The Hula Bowl has scheduled a press conference at Aloha Stadium on Friday at 11 a.m., according to Aloha Stadium spokesman Patrick Leonard.