There's American football, and then there's football for everyone else.

This week, Hawai'i hopes to capture everyone else's attention, as Aloha Stadium hosts the inaugural Pan-Pacific Soccer Championships 2008.

Four professional teams from the U.S., Australia and Japan will compete tomorrow and Saturday; among those playing will be David Beckham, the sport's reigning superstar, and homegrown talent Brian Ching.

It's a bold investment. Soccer is hardly a big spectator sport in the U.S.; only 4 percent of U.S. adults rank it as their favorite sport to watch, according to a 2006 Pew Research Center survey.

But there are reasons it makes good business sense to test the waters in Hawai'i.

Our location — East meets West — makes us a prime location for teams on both sides of the Pacific to meet.

There's also the potential for a new market of international tourists — millions of die-hard soccer fans.

But there's one other undeniable fact: Hawai'i is a great place to play the game.

More than 30,000 amateurs, mostly kids, play year-round. The Waipi'o Soccer Complex, a vast green Eden for soccer players, attracts national tournaments for youth leagues, including two this summer.

It's hoped the Pan-Pacific will pique their interest as well, developing a reliable base of fans to help the tournament grow and prosper.

For our slumping tourism industry, that's a goal worth shooting for.