NFL

Hawaii Governor Questions Paying $4 Million To Host NFL’s Pro Bowl

Hawaii governor Neil Abercrombie opposes the state’s deal to host the NFL Pro Bowl at a cost of $4 million per game this year and next:

You can’t do things like give 4 million bucks to a $9 billion football industry and not give any money to children. 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.

All admirable things to say, but I just can’t see the Pro Bowl not being played in Hawaii. Granted, 2010′s game took place in Miami, but the previous 30 years, Hawaii has played host. If Abercrombie gets his way, then more power to him, but it’s interesting that he’d so publicly share his sentiments. The NFL had no comment.

Last year’s game generated $28.15 million in spending and attracted 17,000 visitors to the state. It’s going to be hard to convince lawmakers and citizens to simply turn down that kind of return.

[@Sportsfeeder1]