Eight years after the troubled Hula Bowl left Hawaii amid questions, its announced resurrection poses several of its own.

Organizers last week announced the game, which went dark after playing at near-empty Aloha Stadium in 2008, will resume operation in 2018 in North Carolina and return to an as-yet-undetermined site in Hawaii in 2019.

The announcement is said to have come as a surprise to officials at the Hawaii Tourism Authority, Aloha Stadium and Maui County, all of whom said they have had no contact with Hula Bowl LLC or the promoters, California-based Jennifer and Noah Logan, the children of the game’s last operator here, Nick Logan.

Aloha Stadium Manager Scott Chan said he tried to reach promoters after learning of the announcement but has not heard back.

News of a Hula Bowl comeback was also announced by the North Carolina Department of Commerce and came as the state’s governor, Pat McCrory, was in the stretch run of a tight battle for his job. He was a strong supporter of the controversial House Bill 2, legislation deemed discriminatory against the LGBT community by the NCAA, NBA and sports leagues that responded by moving more than a dozen events out of the state.

David Rhodes, deputy communications director for the N.C. Department of Commerce, said “some state officials have had some discussion” with Hula Bowl LLC but have “made no commitment” in regard to sponsorships.

Jennifer Logan told the the Raleigh, N.C., Triangle Business Journal, “We have some excellent sponsors, so we’ll be ready to go,” but declined to name them at this point.

The Hula Bowl, which began in 1947 at Honolulu Stadium, was Hawaii’s longest-running major sports attraction until being eclipsed in the 1980s by the arrival of the rapidly ascendant Pro Bowl.

With the departure of the Pro Bowl to Orlando, Fla., for at least three years beginning in 2017, Noah Logan said he believes the Hula Bowl can be viable. “I think if you put together a good product the community will embrace it.”

He said the plan is to get it up and running in Raleigh while retaining its traditions, including the Tatupu Award, and bring it back to Honolulu in 2019, “a place where it has strong brand from when it was one of the premier games.”

He said, “There was never any desire to change the name (from Hula Bowl).”

In its prime, the brainchild of Honolulu promoter Mackay Yangisawa drew upwards of 40,000 and a who’s who of stars, including 13 Heisman Trophy winners in one 16-year stretch. But by 1986 attendance dipped under 30,000 for the first time at Aloha Stadium and kept dropping in a three-bowl lineup that included the Pro Bowl and Aloha Bowl.

After the Hula Bowl’s decades-long rivalry with the San Francisco Bay Area-based East-West Shrine Game and Blue-Gray Game, the Mobile, Ala.-based Senior Bowl assumed a dominant position thanks to its strong NFL ties.

NFL teams furnish the coaches for the game and all 32 teams send staff to work out and evaluate the draft-hopeful players. As a result, agents began steering their players to the Senior Bowl, stripping the Hula Bowl of its marquee players and lustre.

As crowds and TV viewership declined, ownership of the Hula Bowl changed hands several times and even changed sites, moving to Maui’s War Memorial Stadium for eight years. In 2004 the Maui Council reported the game was unable to pay the county $11,062 owed on the game.

The game returned to Honolulu in 2006, bringing financial problems and controversy over who owned the Hula Bowl name with it. The game drew just 7,065. At one point, Aloha Stadium demanded payment of what it said were overdue bills before it would let the 2007 game proceed.

Chan said Monday, “After researching our records, the stadium has no outstanding financial obligations listed in our books.”

Noah Logan said his father’s Georgia-based company, Cornerstone, was a sponsor of the Hula Bowl “and ended up (running) it because the owner basically backed out at the last minute.”

The 2008 game was played before an estimated gathering of just 2,000 at Aloha Stadium.

The Hula Bowl faces stiff competition in a crowded all-star game market. In addition to the Senior Bowl, the Carson, Calif.-based NFLPA Bowl, backed by the NFL Players Association, and East-West Shrine Game, which relocated to St. Petersburg, Fla., are all run by former NFL executives.

An NFL spokesman said he was unaware of any ties or discussions with the Hula Bowl.

Noah Logan said, “The Senior Bowl is obviously a quality event and has a great history. I think it will always get the first group of players because of the NFL (connection).”

But he said, “The idea here is to widen the opportunities for players coming out in Division I and the other Division schools to be seen by the NFL,” Canadian and other leagues. “I think time will show whether or not there is room for it. The people that we have talked to have expressed that they believe there is room.”