Now about that Pro Bowl money …
… How about helping out the University of Hawaii athletic department?
The Hawaii Tourism Authority gives the NFL $4 million a year for the rights to the Pro Bowl. With the Pro Bowl going to Arizona for next year, surely the HTA can now allocate a sizable portion of that to UH, as well as the other college athletic departments.
How about some kokua for Brigham Young-Hawaii, too? Maybe help save the Seasiders, who announced they plan to shutdown intercollegiate athletics in three years.
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While I sympathize with BYUH students and alums, state money to a private school would be a tough sell, especially given the larger situation with state tax dollars — issues with funding for DOE and for Teach for America.
YOUR TWO IDEAS ARE SO EXCELLENT THAT YOU KNOW THEY WON’T HAPPEN, BCOZ THEY MAKE TOO MUCH SENSE.
Disagree. Hawai’i Tourism Authority operates under this jurisdiction only. Other areas in the economic sector that may be affected such as DOT, DBED, Parks and Recreation, Land and Natural Resources gets first hand funds of any funds HTA produces for our local economy. UH is on the bottom of the list. Privatization
Gee why not use the money for
Hawaii Health Connector?
or
Pre school programs?
or
Clinics for poorly served areas?
or
Roads?
Or something that is of use to the community rather then pouring good money after bad to subsidize a ongoing money losing activity?
Aloha Kākou: One use for the money could be to upgrade the sound system at the Stan Sheriff Center. Some if not most of the system is part of the original system that was installed when the SSC opened in 1994. On the HawaiiAthletics website, SSC is described as the “jewel of the Athletic Department. Each time the possibility of upgrading this vital piece of equipment comes up, the money is always pulled in some fashion, whether by Legislature or UH Administration. It should be upgraded because in 15% of the SSC, sound cannot be heard from the system. This is from hearing the complaints of fans while the game is going on or afterward, then walking to the area they describe.
Fixing this is for the enjoyment of the fans, but also poses a hazard in case of emergency; if not everyone is able to hear the announcements in house.
It is an overlooked piece of the puzzle that also needs nurturing as we continue to cheer on our favorite home team, in our own house SSC.
Sound at Aloha Stadium is another item altogether for another time…. -b
Wouldn’t use of state money to subsidize a religious university have the same problem as Abercrombie trying to use state money to pay for kids to go to church-run preschools?
How about we get rid of the HTA. They do nothing to improve the tourism market. The tourism market still goes through declines, and the market may grow but that is a natural cycle — the HTA has no real effect. The HTA just rides on the natural crests that the tourism market experiences, and tries to claim credit, but when the natural declines come then they say they need more money.
$4 million “extra” towards something else that could use it??? That’s not how anything in Hawaii works unfortunately.
man eating apple– I don’t know about doing nothing to improve the tourist market, but they make it hard for people here to get people on the mainland to believe that we do real work here. They may promote tourism, but they’re bad for the rest of the economy.