NFL unclear if game stays or goes

For the second time in as many years, the future of the Pro Bowl hangs over Aloha Stadium like so much hibachi haze.

Where the NFL’s annual all-star game goes next — or whether it even survives past this year — will be determined by how things play out in a new-look format a week from today in Halawa, officials suggest.

"We will not be making any decisions or analysis until after this year’s Pro Bowl," said NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy in an email responding to questions about the game’s future. "We will review everything related to the game, including the new format and the new elements of the draft."

The game steps away from the AFC vs. NFC structure of the past 43 years to a "draft" format in which players are selected without regard to conference or team affiliation.

The Team Rice vs. Team Sanders matchup based upon rosters selected by alumni Hall of Fame captains Jerry Rice and Deion Sanders is a Hail Mary attempt to bring some long-absent sizzle to a game that has been played in various forms since 1939.

A year ago the game was played under a perform-or-else edict from Commissioner Roger Goodell, who was among those embarrassed by the lackluster play of 2012.

The 2012 game effort drew choruses of boos at Aloha Stadium and criticism from league officials and players. But while play improved in 2013, TV ratings dipped slightly. The game was viewed by 12.2 million households, down from 12.5 million.

The NFL, in collaboration with the NFL Players Association, has since put considerable time into coming up with the new format aimed to appeal to fantasy league followers and has brought in McDonald’s as a presenting sponsor. It borrows from a framework introduced by the National Hockey League.

Meanwhile, if the game continues, Hawaii waits to see whether it will retain the lead position or a bit part after what will be its 34th game in 35 years.

The game was on its last legs when it came here in 1980, unwanted by the league cities it had been rotated among.

Aloha Stadium hosted the game annually until 2010, when South Florida held the game as part of an experiment tied in to the Super Bowl. The NFL has said it might pair up the events again, but with the 2014 Super Bowl in the New Jersey Meadowlands, the league apparently opted for a warmer weather site.

With the 2015 Super Bowl scheduled for Glendale, Ariz., followed by San Francisco in 2016 and Houston in 2017, the fear here has been that Hawaii will become only an occasional stop because the NFL can make more money by bundling the two events.

Michael Story, tourism brand and sports manager for the Hawaii Tourism Authority, said, "We’ve been negotiating for quite a long time, throughout 2013, to bring the game back to Hawaii (in 2015) because we believe that Hawaii is the home of the Pro Bowl."

But Story said, "We certainly want to honor our partnership with the NFL and, if they feel that (a rotation) is going to be the best for everybody, we want to make sure we are involved in a rotation as much as we can be."

David Uchiyama, vice president of brand management for the HTA, has said one option would be for Hawaii to host four games in a seven-year period.

The state currently pays the NFL $4 million per year plus $152,000 in operating expenses to have the game here. The NFL controls everything but the parking at Aloha Stadium, officials said.

The HTA said the Pro Bowl attracted 17,800 tourists here in 2013, resulting in $26 million in visitor spending impact and $2.7 million in visitor-generated tax revenue.

Story said, "The game gives fantastic exposure to our No. 1 market, North America, at a very cold time of the year. For them to turn on the TV and sit down and watch a sunny, warm destination, I think, has immeasurable impact."

This year the draft will be held at Ko Olina and Story said, "That’s two more hours of exposure since it will be held in the open air, not inside."

The game will be on NBC and the draft on the NFL Network.