Rams appear to be Hawaii’s surest ticket to NFL game

A pristine and still rust-free Aloha Stadium was about to celebrate its first birthday in 1976 when the San Francisco 49ers and San Diego Chargers played a preseason game here.

The game — won by the 49ers, 17-16, on a late field goal — drew 36,364 and was deemed such a huge success that officials talked confidently about bringing not just more exhibition games but, perhaps, a regular-season contest or two to the new facility.

That was back in the days of Dan Fouts and Jim Plunkett playing quarterback to put a timeframe on it.

Now, going on 42 years later, the dream of any of those things remains frustratingly unrealized.

Which is what makes the Hawaii Tourism Authority’s recent conversations with the Los Angeles Rams about a potential visit not only noteworthy but intriguing.

To this point there are no contracts and no promises to what Leslie Dance, HTA’s vice president of marketing and product development, terms “very, very preliminary” discussions about a possible preseason game in 2019.

But to people briefed on those possibilities, there is, for the first time in a long time, a ray of genuine hope.

We know, we know … the state has been here before with the Oakland Raiders, Chargers, Seattle Seahawks and others and been blanked in each of them.

For the longest time the idea had been that Hawaii’s support of the Pro Bowl would lead to some games here. Now, there is no Pro Bowl and still no games.

Before his death Raiders owner Al Davis had said during a Pro Bowl visit that he was keenly interested in the possibilities of bringing the Raiders here but that, ultimately, the finances couldn’t be worked out to his satisfaction.

One of the reasons Aloha Stadium got the 1976 game was that the Chargers were on their way back to the mainland from Japan and a stopover here made financial sense.

This time a potential hook is that the Rams aren’t due to move into their new home until 2020 and a game here against a West Coast opponent has some appeal. After 2020, good luck on getting them to budge.

But part of what makes this opportunity interesting is that Kevin Demoff, Rams executive vice president for football operations and chief operating officer, is a regular visitor to Kauai.

That connection, Dance said, is what initially brought the two parties together.

The HTA’s biggest visitor market is southern California, and sports as an avenue to visibility is something the HTA has plunged deeper into. It is, for example, what brought in the Los Angeles Clippers last fall for a training camp and exhibition games and what has the HTA still in talks with the UFC about a card featuring Max Holloway.

As for an opponent for the Rams, if the deal gets done, Dance said, “We haven’t got that far yet.” But “more likely it would be a team from the West Coast,” she said.

While that leaves several options, the possibility of the Tennessee Titans and Marcus Mariota is something that would also be worth investigating, especially if the Titans had a West Coast game either preceding or following an appearance here.

The 2019 target gives the parties ample time to plan for, something that has rarely been the case with past attempts.

While a 2018 game would be ideal, after waiting 42 years for an NFL game, what is one more season?

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.