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Once more Orlando, Fla., thinks it has won the tug-of-war with Hawaii for the Pro Bowl, only this time others are saying so as well.
Nearly 25 years after Orange County, Fla., officials thought they had snatched the 1994 — and subsequent — NFL all-star games from Hawaii, Bloomberg News reported Thursday that the game will move to Orlando for 2017. ESPN also confirmed the game is leaving. Bloomberg cited three unnamed sources for the report.
But NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser in an email, “No deal is done with any of the interested cities. Multiple cities have expressed interest in hosting the Pro Bowl, including Honolulu, Houston, Orlando and Sydney, Australia.”
McCarthy said, “We do not have a comment on discussions with any of these cities.”
The Hawaii Tourism Authority declined comment.
With the exception of 2010 (South Florida) and 2015 (Glendale, Ariz.), the NFL all-star game has been played at Aloha Stadium every year since it moved to Hawaii in 1980.
In 1992, Chuck Rohe, executive director of Florida Citrus Sports, buoyed by aid from Walt Disney World, told reporters, “I feel good about our chances. … I know our offer is better than what they (the NFL) are getting in Honolulu.”
But Hawaii kept the game for 16 consecutive years and, ironically, might lose it now to a lesser bid.
The HTA paid the NFL $5.2 million for the 2016 game and was due to pay the same fee for 2017. But a provision in its contract with the NFL allows either party to opt out of the 2017
game by May 31.
The original opt-out date was March 31, but the NFL requested and was granted an extension during which Florida Citrus has been firming up funds to support its bid.
The Orange County (Fla.) Board of County Commissioners is scheduled to vote next week on appropriating $3 million in hotel taxes to help bring the game there. Orlando’s initial bid is reported at $2.5 million for 2017 and escalating thereafter.
A spokeswoman told the Star-Advertiser passage was virtually assured after the county Tourism Development Council unanimously voted to recommend the appropriation.
After the TDC voted, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer told the Orlando Sentinel, “I think it is pretty much ours to lose.”
At stake, all the parties in the bidding have said, is a tourism shot in the arm for the winning location. The HTA has cited $26.2 million in economic impact for the state.
Florida Citrus officials touted the ability to expand upon those numbers in their presentation to the TDC last week. George Aguel, CEO of Visit Orlando, said the game provides “280 million consumer impressions on digital media.”
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