Chan offers Hawaii for NFL Draft
Advertiser Staff
Aloha Stadium manager Scott Chan told the stadium authority yesterday he has inquired whether the NFL would be willing to look at Hawai'i as a site for the league's annual player draft.
Chan said he brought up the subject with visiting NFL officials during a recent Pro Bowl-based tour of the stadium and characterized the talk as "very premature; very preliminary."
"It would take a lot of effort to bring it here — I don't even know if they would take it it out of New York — but I just wanted to throw that out to see what the possibilities might be," Chan said. "A lot would be involved, but we were just trying to open dialogue to see about the possibilities."
The NFL took its draft out of Madison Square Garden for the first time in a decade in 2005 to the Javits Convention Center and has said it would look at the possibility of stepping beyond New York for the first time since 1965.
The two-day draft is nationally televised.
NEW EVENTS MANAGER
Stephen Lee will become stadium events manager, it was announced.
He succeeds Eugene Tokuhama, who retired last month. Lee has held a series of positions at the stadium, most recently assistant box office manager.
Chan said interviews with candidates for the chief security position will begin next week and he hopes a hire can be made soon after.
EXPANDING ADVERTISING
The authority is consulting with Hawai'i Malls Inc., its signage partner, about expanding the reach of advertising throughout the facility, including putting signage on parking lot toilets.
In addition, the authority is looking into prospects for its own event-based sign near the Gate 4 main entrance.
The authority approved a HUGS charity event for September in which the group will attempt to set a Guinness Book of World Records mark for the longest lei of hugs.
Stadium officials said the group hopes to attract 10,000 participants to the stadium for the event on either Sept. 15 or 29.
HUGS, which stands for Help, Understanding & Group Support, is a non-profit group that assists families of seriously ill children.
