Jan. 20, 2005

By JAYMES SONG
AP Sports Writer

WAILUKU, Hawaii (AP) - Several West Coast cities have expressed interest in hosting the financially troubled Hula Bowl but the new owners of the 59-year-old game say they want to keep it on Maui.

"I'm a traditionalist. I want this bowl to stay here," Kenny Hansmire, chairman and chief executive officer of the Hula Bowl, said Wednesday. "Are we being courted by other cities? You're darn right we are. But it would not be the Hula Bowl because it's not in Hawaii."

Hansmire, the majority partner, vowed Saturday's game will not be the final Hula Bowl.

Although the game is without a major title sponsor for the fifth straight year, it is now solvent, four months after Hansmire's company, Overtime Sports Pacific, took over and after the Credit Unions of America agreed to a five-year, $2.5 million deal to be a "presenting sponsor."

The annual college all-star game moved to Maui in 1998 because of lackluster attendance in Honolulu, where it was in direct competition for football fans with the Aloha Bowl, the Oahu Bowl and the NFL's Pro Bowl.

The game's biggest cost is flying more than 100 football players from across the country to Maui.

"If I moved the bowl to Dallas, Texas, that expense would be cut in half immediately," Hansmire said.

The same high travel cost would exist if the game were moved to Honolulu, but there would be larger fan base with 75 percent of the state population living there.

For the Hula Bowl to remain on Maui, it needs more support from everyone from local businesses to the county and state governments, Hansmire said.

He would not disclose how much money the game has lost over the past couple years, but said he would not challenge the $400,000 figure published Wednesday in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin.

"We are serious about leaving the bowl here," he said. "Right now, I don't really look for it to move. It could change."