It’s March 26. Do you know where your 2015 Pro Bowl is?
Unless the NFL pulls a surprise flea-flicker in the final minutes Wednesday, its annual meetings will have ended without a decision of where its all-star game will be played after the upcoming season.
The league had more important things to take care of this week, such as banning goal-post dunks following touchdowns. This was much lamented on Twitter by Tony Gonzalez, the recently retired tight end who played basketball at Cal and is a … sorry, can’t resist … slam-dunk for the Hall of Fame.
As of writin’ time on Tuesday, there was no such sure thing for a home to the next Pro Bowl. We know Honolulu was still in the game to host the game, as it has every year except one since 1980.
The Hawaii Tourism Authority, which negotiates with the NFL, declined to comment for the very logical reason that nothing had come out of Orlando (which reminds me … remember when Mickey Mouse’s vacation home wanted the Pro Bowl back in the ’90s?).
Phoenix is the biggest contender to wrest the 2015 game from Hawaii because that city is hosting the Super Bowl the following week. Although the players say they always want the Pro Bowl in Hawaii, commissioner Roger Goodell seems to like the idea of consolidation. That’s what the NFL did in 2010, when both games were in South Florida. For one thing, it cuts back on costs to the league.
But a late decision shouldn’t necessarily be viewed as decreasing the odds for Hawaii. Two years ago the NFL waited until the end of May to announce that the Pro Bowl would be played at Aloha Stadium eight months later.
That was when Goodell threatened to pull the plug on what had become a farcical display of faux football. There’s no such threat this time, after the novelty of a draft of teams by NFL legends Jerry Rice and Deion Sanders and a game that included actual hitting (even some regular-season teammates lighting each other up) and an exciting finish.
Ratings are up. But drawing 3,000 short of a sell-out at 50,000-seat Aloha Stadium for the second year in a row could be hurting Hawaii’s negotiating stance this time around.
Whether Hawaii plays host again or not, those whispers of a potential preseason game at Aloha Stadium involving West Coast teams are getting louder. One thing holding back such a venture could be money, but something could surely be worked out where the participants don’t take a financial bath. Also, logistics — including securing the date at the stadium — might dictate planning more than a year ahead for such a game. August is high school football season already.
Another question is how big a crowd would actually attend. Sure, you’d get the fans of the teams in question … but how many others would pay to go to a preseason game where the starters are only in for a series or two?
A regular-season game, now that would draw.
If you can have MLB’s Opening Day in Australia, why not a real, live NFL regular-season game in Hawaii?
Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783. Read his blog at staradvertiser.com/ quickreads.
