ESPN Regional To Own And Operate Hawaii Bowl

Commissioner Mike Slive

ESPN Regional Television (ERT), a subsidiary of ESPN, Inc., will own and operate the Hawai'i Bowl, a newly created college football bowl game to be played at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawai'i. Chuck Gerber, executive vice president, ESPN Regional Television, Ben Cayetano, Governor of Hawai'i and Evan Dobelle, president, University of Hawai'i, announced the agreement. The game was recently certified by the NCAA Football Bowl Certification Committee. The game will be played December 25 at 8 p.m. ET (3 p.m. local) and will be televised by ESPN. The Hawai'i Bowl will match a team from Conference USA against a team from the Western Athletic Conference.

"We are very pleased to bring a Christmas week bowl game back to Hawai'i, providing primetime exposure to our two partner conferences, the state of Hawai'i, the University of Hawai'i and bowl sponsors," said Gerber. "ESPN's wide range of sports media platforms reach across television, radio, Internet and print, allowing us to maximize promotional and coverage opportunities for the state of Hawai'i and this event."

ESPN Regional Television will be responsible for the Hawai'i Bowl's organization, operation, sponsorship, marketing efforts and more. Under the direction of ESPN Regional Television, the University of Hawai'i will provide marketing, management and game day operations support for the Hawai'i Bowl. ESPN Regional Television will assign an executive director to be based in Honolulu. Additional details, including sponsorship, are to be finalized.

"This deal between the University of Hawai'i and ESPN will give Hawai'i primetime exposure on one of the biggest television viewing days of the year," said Governor Cayetano. "People suffering through the winter cold will see our warm sunshine and beautiful scenery and be tempted into coming to Hawai'i. The Hawai'i Bowl deal also means that the university will again have the opportunity to showcase Hawai'i's football team in a high-profile bowl game."

University of Hawai'i President Evan Dobelle said, "We went to work on this bowl game from the time the whistle blew at the end of the BYU game in December. I am grateful to Karl Benson and others who joined with me and other WAC members in convincing the NCAA to give us this opportunity to showcase the Warriors."

The Hawai'i Bowl will mark the first non-all-star post-season game in Hawai'i since December, 2000 when the Jeep Oahu Bowl and the Jeep Aloha Bowl were played in Honolulu.

Hawai'i Head Coach June Jones said, "Having the Hawai'i Bowl here in Honolulu is a positive not just for our school and football program, but for the entire state. It's an opportunity for us to showcase who we are as a football program on national television."




"The WAC-Hawai'i Bowl relationship is a win-win situation for ESPN, for the University of Hawai'i and for all members of the Western Athletic Conference," said Karl Benson, WAC commissioner. "Not only are we able to expand our number of bowl opportunities, we also are able to do so in one of the country's finest destination cities. The WAC has had its teams participate in previous bowl games in Hawai'i, but this is the first time in several years that it has been aligned as a conference with the game. We look forward to a long and healthy relationship with the Hawai'i Bowl."

Conference USA Commissioner Mike Slive said, "We are excited to be a part of the Hawai'i Bowl. Having five bowls gives us tremendous postseason opportunities for our players and coaches. The addition of the Hawai'i Bowl, its outstanding destination and the continued exposure on ESPN will be a wonderful addition for C-USA football."

The Hawai'i Bowl will join ESPN and ESPN2's extensive bowl lineup. Last year, the networks combined to present coverage of 15 post-season college football bowl games, highlighted by Capital One Bowl Week featuring 12 games in six days, including the Culligan Holiday Bowl, SYLVANIA Alamo Bowl, Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl and the Outback Bowl.

ESPN will begin the second year of an exclusive eight-year agreement with Conference USA for football and basketball this season. The multi-faceted agreement includes ESPN and ESPN2's coverage of Conference USA football, men's basketball coverage on ESPN and ESPN2, syndication and network rights for the conference's football and basketball coverage through ESPN Regional Television, ESPN.com, ESPN Classic, marketing rights and more.

ESPN REGIONAL TELEVISION/EVENT OWNERSHIP
ESPN Regional Television (ERT) is the nation's largest syndicator of collegiate sports programming, producing more than 900 sporting events a year. In addition to event ownership, ERT produces events for national, regional and local networks, serves as the exclusive syndication rightsholder for college conferences (e.g. - Big Ten, Big EAST, Big 12, Conference USA and Mountain West) and exclusive marketing rightsholder for select schools (e.g. - Kansas, Oregon, UNLV).

In addition to the Hawai'i Bowl, ESPN Regional Television markets and/or owns several other collegiate sporting events. Examples include the Sega Sports Las Vegas Bowl, The Home Depot College Football Awards, ACC-Big Ten Challenge, the AXA East - West Showdown, ESPN The Magazine's College Basketball Awards, the C-USA Men's Basketball Tournament, the Mountain West Men's Basketball Tournament, the ESPY Golf Tournament and the Las Vegas Showdown.

In recent years, ESPN, Inc. has created or acquired events it owns, markets and televises to increase its value to advertisers and affiliates. Examples include the ESPY Awards, X Games and Winter X Games, Skins Game, Great Outdoor Games, Jimmy V Men's Basketball Classic, Action Sports and Music Awards and much more.