In an effort to expand its ties with the NFL, the Hawaii Tourism Authority has proposed the creation of a developmental pro football league based in Hawaii.

The league would be similar to the former NFL Europe League and also borrow from the multi-island Hawaii Winter Baseball concept, according David Uchiyama, vice president of brand management for the HTA.

NFL Europe, which was intended to groom players for the NFL, operated between 1991 and 2007 in several European cities.

The Hawaii version would follow the Hawaii Winter Baseball example, which had teams based on Oahu, Hawaii island, Maui and Kauai, and operated from 1993 to ’97 and 2006 to ’09 in cooperation with Major League Baseball.

Uchiyama said a six-team league with two clubs each on Oahu and Hawaii island, plus one each on Maui and Kauai, had been proposed.

Hawaii Winter Baseball helped produce more than 70 major leaguers and was notable as a launching ground for players from Asia, including longtime star Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners.

Uchiyama, who revealed the proposal during a press conference announcing the Pro Bowl’s return here for 2013, termed the developmental league idea “a dream,” but said the NFL has encouraged the HTA’s vision.

“We were putting together different thoughts and the NFL said, ‘Hey, don’t limit yourself. Tell us what you think are the possibilities within the state,’ ” Uchiyama said.

“When we started rolling and we asked questions about what went wrong in Europe and they said the financials were horrendous, we thought, ‘Gee, we had the Winter Baseball League here,’ ” Uchiyama said.

“With some help from the NFL, it might be possible,” Uchiyama said. “It might be cost efficient, so we threw it out there. We said, ‘Would you guys think we are crazy if we put this one on the list?’ ” Uchiyama said. “They said, ‘No, we think you should put it on the list.’ So, we blew it up in a little more detail.”

In addition, Uchiyama said the HTA proposed that the NFL hold an exhibition game here in years in which the Pro Bowl is played elsewhere.