No Mention of Gay Marriage as State Gives NFL $4M to Bring ProBowl Back One More Year

News Release from www.Hawaii.gov/gov  

The National Football League (NFL) has announced it will hold its 2013 Pro Bowl at Aloha Stadium for the 33rd time.

The game will be played Jan. 27 and broadcast live on network television.

Gov. Neil Abercrombie released the following statement:

“This is wonderful news for football fans in Hawaii and elsewhere who love watching the game. It’s also great news for NFL players and their families who enjoy coming to our Aloha State.

“I have had discussions with the Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA) and the NFL to look at ways in which we can provide a renewed experience for the game next year for the players, visitors, people of Hawaii and fans the world over. Hawaii has a variety of cultural experiences to offer and we want to be sure to highlight our uniqueness beyond the beauty of our landscape.

“We look forward to working with the NFL and the HTA in this partnership and offer our hand in assisting the NFL as it builds relationships with our friends in Asia.”

Find out more: www.nfl.com/probowl

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SA: Pro Bowl is back where it belongs

The new agreement is effective only for next year's Jan. 27 Pro Bowl, for which the state will pay $4 million to the NFL plus $152,000 for operating costs, the same as last year's deal. Ray Anderson, the NFL's executive vice president of football operations, said, "The players have made it clear through the NFL Players Association that they would like the opportunity to continue to play the Pro Bowl in Hawaii."

…Gov. Neil Abercrombie, who dissed the Pro Bowl soon after taking office last year, now recognizes the value of providing "a renewed experience for the game next year for the players, visitors, people of Hawaii and fans the world over." Last year's game accounted for $28.6 million in visitor spending and more than $3 million in state taxes from people who came here for the game.

ESPN: Is fixing the Pro Bowl a lost cause?

The NBA, Major League Baseball and NHL have found ways to make their all-star games interesting and entertaining for fans. Yet the NFL fails to hit the mark year after year with the Pro Bowl.

To be blunt, the game is no longer relevant. The consensus among NFL coaches and front office executives surveyed at the owners meetings is that fixing the Pro Bowl is a lost cause. Perhaps it was never more apparent than this past January in the AFC's 59-41 victory over the NFC. The contest, if you can call it that, had little energy and became a glorified flag football game. Commissioner Roger Goodell threatened to cancel the all-star game, but the NFLPA and NFL agreed to bring the game back Wednesday after players promised it would improve.

The Pro Bowl will resume in Hawaii on Jan. 27, 2013, one week before the Super Bowl in New Orleans. But poor timing is the NFL's first mistake. The league should move the Pro Bowl back until two weeks after the Super Bowl. The current format automatically rules out every star player from the AFC and NFC champions. That takes away from the game's credibility and star power. Add to the mix injury withdrawals and players who don't want to show up, and you get a watered down roster of alternates….

Some players earn bonuses from $500,000 to $750,000 for being voted to the team. Playing a quarter or two at half speed in Hawaii is just a minor inconvenience compared to the many perks.

For the Pro Bowl to thrive again, the best way to motivate players is with money.  The NFL should increase the purse to $200,000 per player -- winners take all.

Pro Bowl: A New Day for Sandwiches

Shapiro: …a double quote of the week … from Abercrombie on Hawaii paying the NFL $4 million to host the Pro Bowl:

June 2011: "You've got this spectacle of these multimillionaires and billionaires out there arguing about how they're going to divide it up, and then they come and ask us to bribe them with $4 million to have a scrimmage out here in paradise. … What do they do with all that? How many sandwiches can you eat?"

This week after the game was renewed: "This is wonderful news for football fans in Hawaii and elsewhere who love watching the game. It's also great news for NFL players and their families who enjoy coming to our Aloha State."

He calls it "A New Day for Sandwiches."

read … Trash talk persists despite insistence upon teamwork