When the University of Hawaii asks for money — whether it be for athletic or academic programs — the people doing the asking often talk about community benefits, and how UH adds to them.

With sports, a recurring theme is the pride of association with winning teams, or at least teams that try hard to win. Another major point is that funding supports the efforts of future community leaders, the student-athletes.

There is some truth to this, as there is with every college … including their athletic departments. Alumni who played sports at UH often attest to developing skills as student-athletes (among them organization, decision-making under stress, discipline, teamwork) that they use every day of their working lives, many of them in Hawaii.

With that in mind, the question is how much should the general public be asked to foot the bill for college sports. Or, in the true spirit of autonomy, is it the UH administration’s job to decide how much of its allocation goes to its sports programs?

With Senate Bill 83 — which asks the state (in the form of the Hawaii Tourism Authority) for $3 million to defray UH sports (Manoa and Hilo) travel costs — there’s also the contention that because so many eyes are on the Rainbows and Vulcans games it promotes tourism in Hawaii.

That’s the same rationale that’s been used to give the NFL millions of dollars each year the Pro Bowl is played here; it’s up to $5 million for this year’s game a few months ago.

The HTA provided $575,000 to UH Manoa sports in 2012, but nada the next year (that’s not counting indirect support through the Diamond Head Classic, which is owned by ESPN, but UH hosts).

Why did the funding stop? The athletic director at the time, Jim Donovan, was friends with a key man at HTA, David Uchiyama. The next year Donovan was gone, and so was the HTA money.

There’s new leadership at both UH athletics and the HTA, but the same old money problems for athletics and the university in general.

There’s been a lot of backroom politics and turf protection in regard to this bill, as well as the one for a new sports commission that would also cut into the HTA’s influence.

While I’ve consistently backed the concept of tourism money supporting a tourism generator like college sports, this proposed $3 million band-aid (always easier than a long-term solution) looks like it may have been an over-reach.

Pardon the Monday morning quarterbacking, but everyone knew the HTA was going to dig in and stand its ground.

While it looks like that bill for $3 million isn’t going to pass, UH and the other sports-playing colleges should get direct funding from the HTA anyway, as there is precedent.

Despite what its CEO, George Szigeti, said in testimony against the bill, there is a “nexus.”

The Hawaii brand gets plenty of exposure on the continent (and beyond) because of the sports teams from UH and the four Division II schools.

College teams and their fans travel to Hawaii and spend money here. Maybe not as much as your typical visitor who comes for the Pro Bowl, but the Rainbow Warriors play 13 games a year, six or seven at home. And that’s just UH, and that’s just football.

The NFL comes just once a year … or not even that.

Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783. His blog is at Hawaiiwarriorworld.com/quickreads