NFL official denies news report that Pro Bowl moving to Orlando
DENNIS ODA / JAN. 31
Todd Gurley celebrates after his touchdown catch in the 2nd quarter of the Pro Bowl at Aloha Stadium on Jan. 31.
Amid a report today that the NFL is moving the Pro Bowl to Orlando, Fla., the league maintains “no deal is done.”
Bloomberg News, citing multiple sources, said the game would leave Aloha Stadium, its home for most of the last four decades, for Orlando.
But NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser in an email, “No deal is done with any of the interested cities. Multiple cities have expressed interest in hosting the Pro Bowl, including Honolulu, Houston, Orlando and Sydney, Australia.”
McCarthy said, “We do not have a comment on discussions with any of these cities.”
The Hawaii Tourism Authority has a contract with the NFL for the 2017 game but either party may opt out of the deal by May 31.
With the exception of 2010 (South Florida) and 2015 (Glendale, Ariz.) the NFL all-star game has been played at Aloha Stadium since 1980.
The HTA paid the NFL $5.2 million for the 2016 game and was due to pay the same fee for 2017.
The HTA has said the game produces $26.2 million in economic impact for the state.
10 responses to “NFL official denies news report that Pro Bowl moving to Orlando”
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Bloomberg sites the sagging ratings. Go back to the old NFC v AFC, move it to after the Super Bowl where it used to be so SB team players can participate, and the ratings will improve.
agree but count on the NFL to play the silly Hawaii negotiators like Mufi for fools and extract more money for the bad game.
They want more money! Greed has no end.
ordinarily I would believe that, but yesterday Ferd wrote, “Orlando’s 2017 bid, which is believed to be approximately $2.5 million initially and rising in subsequent years, is less than the $5.2 million called for in Hawaii’s contract with the NFL.”
The game has run its course. Moving it will not help. The interest is failing because the players don’t take the game seriously.
agree. interest is dying because of the way the game is played, not because of the venue.
how about use that money for the pro bowl and bring down a preseason game? it’ll probably be less than $5mil to bring that game down here since you don’t have to bring all the extra hoopla that comes with the pro bowl experience.
Good idea. Half the Pro Bowlers are no shows anyway.
or even a regular season game. why should London get all the attention?
Because the NFL is wooing London to buy into one of the Leagues new expansion International teams. Hawaii doesn’t stand a chance.