Is the Hawai'i Bowl football game getting desperate?

First, all military personnel and their dependents became eligible for free tickets for the fourth year in a row.

Now, Aloha Stadium concessionaire Centerplate is offering free tickets to those attending the Aloha Stadium swap meet, which will be held before the Dec. 24 game between Nevada and Central Florida.

"I wouldn't say desperate," said Jim Donovan, executive director of the game. "We are pulling out all the stops, marketing- and sales-wise, to promote this game because of the relatively new NCAA rule that says we have to average 25,000 persons in attendance over a three-year rolling period.

"Economically, this game is not in any jeopardy."

The Hawai'i Bowl is an ESPN-owned game scheduled for broadcast live on ESPN. One of the main reasons it came to be was to provide a bowl opportunity for the University of Hawai'i. In 2001, UH finished with a 9-3 record, including a 72-45 victory over then-unbeaten Brigham Young, but was left out of a bowl.

This season UH finished 5-7. But because it failed to win the majority of its games, it did not qualify for the Hawai'i Bowl for the first time in the bowl's four-year history. The teams in this year's Christmas Eve game each have eight victories — Nevada finished the regular season 8-3; Central Florida was 8-4.

But without UH as a draw, the game finds itself hurting for fans to attend — and Hawai'i stands in jeopardy of losing the bowl if turnstile attendance falls too far.

After drawing more than 29,000 in 2003 and 38,000 last year, the Hawai'i Bowl's target minimum this year is 12,000 through the turnstiles, according to Donovan. About 5,000 tickets have been sold. The teams are each responsible for distributing about 15,000 tickets, but unused tickets can be returned.

The latest promotion to rev up fan interest announced yesterday will provide swap meet customers free north end-zone general admission tickets from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The Hawai'i Bowl said that Centerplate has committed to a few thousand tickets, but was not specific.

Parking gates open for the swap meet 6 a.m. Christmas Eve at a cost of 50 cents per individual in each vehicle. At 1:30 p.m., parking will revert to $5 per vehicle for the 3:30 p.m. game. The complimentary tickets will be passed out from the Aloha Stadium Satellite Ticket Office next to Gate 6 from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., or until tickets run out.

But the sweet deal may not be enough.

"The excitement is not there to go to the bowl game on Christmas Eve without the Warriors running out of the tunnel," said Maryellen Ing, a UH season-ticket holder for 30-plus years who has attended every Hawai'i Bowl. Asked if the latest offer would entice her and her family to attend the game, Ing replied, "No."

Bowl organizers hope fans change their minds.

"It is what it is. UH is not in it. That's a fact," said Marcia Klompus, an Aloha Stadium Authority Board member, who was once co-owner of bowl games in Hawai'i. "The fact is the bowl game is great to have for the fans of Hawai'i. You shouldn't stay home because Hawai'i is not in it.

"It's not realistic to believe that you're going to have Hawai'i in it every year, so you have to have the bowl game stand on its own and that has to do with matchups and players and coaches you bring here."

The promotions are run to meet NCAA guidelines, not to look good on national TV by filling the stadium, Donovan said.

"Obviously, having a nice-sized fan base helps teams perform better and would look better on TV, but it's not critical of why a viewer watches the game," he said. "How many people are in the stands has no effect on television ratings. We've averaged about a 2.5 rating (approximately 2.4 million households). That puts us in the middle of 28 bowl games."

The NCAA instituted the turnstile attendance rule in 2003 "to make sure that the local communities supported their bowl game," Donovan said. "That was partially driven by the fact that there are more communities in the United States that would like to host a bowl game, but the NCAA is uncomfortable increasing the total number of bowl games."