Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie on Thursday said that "if he had his way he would stop the $4 million payments to the National Football League given to support holding the Pro Bowl in Honolulu," according to Richard Borreca of the HONOLULU STAR-ADVERTISER. Abercrombie, during a news conference on early childhood education, said that “it is a matter of the state’s priorities.” Abercrombie: “This happens to be an easy target because it is so stupid. You can’t do things like give $4 million to a $9 billion football industry and not give money to children.” When asked if he “hoped money for a new Pro Bowl contract would be diverted,” he said, “If I had my way, yes. I am going to do everything I can. I am not going to give those people $4 million.” Hawaii paid $4M to hold the Pro Bowl this year, and “will pay another $4 million to host it next year.” Former Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann, who “has been one of the state’s strongest supporters of the Pro Bowl and who is now head of the Hawaii Hotel Association,” said that the Pro Bowl “is an economic generator for Hawaii.” The Hawaii Tourism Authority in February claimed that the Pro Bowl this year was responsible for bringing in "$28.15 million in visitor spending and generating $3.07 million in state taxes from those who came specifically to attend the annual all-star game.” Asked if Abercrombie's statements would hurt Hawaii’s chances of retaining the Pro Bowl, Hannemann said, “I think the NFL recognizes we have a new governor who hasn’t had a record or a relationship with the NFL. So hopefully they will look at it through that lens and understand that there is some education that needs to take place and we need to build support in the administration” (STARADVERTISER.com, 6/9). Abercrombie said, "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. We've got to get our values straight and our priorities straight" (AP, 6/9).
