Lt. Gov. Shan Tsutsui is taking a broad approach while addressing how to expand sports in Hawaii. But he acknowledges many roads lead to Aloha Stadium in such a venture

And that is true whether the traffic is coming from the University of Hawaii or the National Football League.

Tsutsui was appointed Tuesday by Gov. Neil Abercrombie to head the state’s new Sports Development Initiative.

"At the University of Hawaii, obviously, facilities has been a big issue — the cost-sharing agreement with Aloha Stadium has always been a thing the university has complained about," Tsutsui said. "We need to figure something out. The Stadium Authority all these years has wanted to do something, but they’re very limited as to what their actual authority is. Hopefully we can change that by having the administration sort of leading the charge, so to speak."

UH derives no revenue from football games it plays at the stadium for things like concessions and signage, but pays fees for using the facility.

"When I was first made aware of the revenue sharing the university had compared to others, we had no idea, just had no idea how different it is in terms of the university pays basically rent for using the stadium," Tsutsui said. "All these other universities, that’s their cash cow to some extent. UH doesn’t have that opportunity."

Tsutsui and UH athletic director Ben Jay met on Monday, Tsutsui said. Jay was out of town Tuesday.

UH athletics has received a $13 million bailout from upper campus for an accumulated deficit. Jay has launched a campaign aimed at making athletics economically solvent.

"If we want to get to where Ben Jay wants us to get we’re going to have to provide them with opportunities to generate (revenue at games)," Tsutsui said. "I didn’t realize they didn’t even get paid for the signage."

Tsutsui’s charge also includes exploring what to do with the stadium itself. Options include renovation, rebuilding a new stadium on the same site, or building a new one somewhere else. Of course, private vs. public funding is among the issues.

"That’s the two-decade question," he said.

Tsutsui said he hopes to be a liaison for various stakeholders, including the Hawaii Tourism Authority, the Stadium Authority, public and private universities and sports organizations.

Abercrombie said the initiative will be all-encompassing.

"We can be an anchor, not just a crossroad or a bridge," Abercrombie said. "Everything from surfing to rugby to baseball. International in scope."