Army head football coach and University of Hawaii alum Rich Ellerson talked the other day about how familiar everything will be in a return to Aloha Stadium Saturday.

The locker rooms, the field, even the opponent sideline.

He’s trod them dozens of times as a Rainbows player in the 1970s, as a UH coach in the 1980s and ’90s, and even as an opponent (1998).

But there are parts of the aging edifice he likely won’t recognize from the past 30 years Saturday: the rows of empty seats.

Peeking back at him come kickoff could be a half-full stadium.

The situation is a far cry from the nights when UH used to top 43,000 even for Abilene Christian and Montana. Back then a small crowd was 38,166 for Cal State Fullerton.

If UH drew 38,000 Saturday, athletic director Ben Jay might do handstands, sore back and all. UH hasn’t come close all season and Saturday will mark six years without a home sellout.

In a lot of ways Aloha Stadium is both the symbol of UH’s problems and a potential solution to some of them as the Board of Regents and Manoa chancellor put their feet down on a mandate to balance the budget.

 Aloha Stadium was conceived by the forward-thinking Gov. John A. Burns as a showcase for UH sports. Somehow, over the years, while UH remains the prime income driver in Halawa, it is no longer the favored tenant. The ‘Bows are the only school in the 12-member Mountain West Conference that does not share in concessions, signage or merchandising revenue at its home field. But, in an ironic twist of the knife, it is charged for cleanup.

What parking money it does receive is through purchasing space from the stadium and reselling it to boosters.

Stadium manager Scott Chan and a succession of Aloha Stadium Authority members have done what they can within the confines of their own state-imposed bottom line, which is what they are charged with overseeing by the Department of Accounting and General Services.

True relief for UH has to come from higher powers, the governor and the Legislature. They can grant UH a better, more equitable, shake, maybe even one approaching the NFL Pro Bowl’s sweetheart deal. They alone can provide UH access to some of the revenue streams it needs to not only be solvent but competitive.

To be sure, the biggest piece of the Aloha Stadium puzzle for UH is putting a winning team on the field, something that has yet to happen this season. But even when the ‘Bows had exciting point-a-minute winners at the height of June Jones’ tenure, 2006-2007, they were hard-pressed to fill the place because times had changed and the perception of value had eroded. Now that is at its lowest ebb in 15 years.

Given a share of the concessions, parking, merchandising and signage, UH would be better positioned to package promotions designed to get fans into the place as well as balance the books. Who knows, with the ability to bundle concessions, parking, tickets and even TV, UH could get creative and offer real value options aimed at winning back some fans and gaining new ones.

Before it is too late.

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