Hawaii could be back in play for Pro Bowl and early plans for Super Bowl in L.A.

SAN FRANCISCO – Could the Pro Bowl be returning to Hawaii next year?

Not officially — but it’s also not out of the question.

Nicki Ewell, the NFL’s senior director of events, spoke exclusively with The Sporting Tribune and was asked whether the Pro Bowl could return to Hawaii next year.

“Sure,” she said. “Why not? Why not?”

The Pro Bowl was held in Hawaii from 1980 to 2016, with brief breaks in 2010 and 2015 when it was staged at the Super Bowl host site the week before the game. After leaving Hawaii and the outdated Aloha Stadium, which is now being demolished, the Pro Bowl has been held at Orlando’s Camping World Stadium and Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium.

This year’s reimagined Pro Bowl Games were held at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco in front of an invite-only crowd of about 2,000. The smaller, indoor footprint opened the door to the event — now a flag football competition — potentially returning to Hawaii.

While a new 31,000-seat Aloha Stadium is in the works and could open by 2029, there’s no reason this version of the Pro Bowl Games couldn’t be played at the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex, where the University of Hawaii has hosted home football games since 2021. Capacity at the on-campus stadium is about 17,000, which would be more than enough for an event that was held inside a convention center on a weekday afternoon this year and drew a record-low television audience of roughly 2 million viewers.

Ewell said the NFL will talk with the NFLPA this offseason about the future of the Pro Bowl Games, but there has been growing support for moving the event back to Hawaii the week after the Super Bowl. That would allow all Pro Bowl players — including those who played in the Super Bowl — to gather in Honolulu with their families once the season ends.

“How we look at the Pro Bowl is it’s a celebration of our players,” Ewell said. “Number one, they want to be recognized. They want to be together. We know that, too. Pro Bowl Games is a fan event, but it’s also a TV event, and the convention center and the field that we built out really made it an amazing TV product. We’re really proud of that work. We’ll look at changing the model potentially, but we really look at our players as partners and investing in that event and investing in what the future of that is as well.”

Super Bowl Opening Night could return to host stadium in 2027

Super Bowl Opening Night has become the kickoff event to Super Bowl week over the past decade. The last two years it was held at the site of the game itself — at the Superdome in New Orleans and Allegiant Stadium Las Vegas. The annual event is the only time before the game when both teams are in the same building at the same time and the first opportunity during Super Bowl week for media to spend extended time with both teams.

With Levi’s Stadium being an outdoor venue with a grass field, this year’s Super Bowl Opening Night was held at the San Jose Convention Center.

It didn’t have the same big-event feel as the past two years inside the host stadium, but that could change when the Super Bowl returns to Los Angeles. The NFL did not hold an in-person Opening Night in 2022 when the Super Bowl was last at SoFi Stadium, as pandemic protocols made early-week media availability virtual. NFL Network instead aired a studio-produced show featuring highlights from team media sessions earlier that day.

Now, the NFL is considering bringing Opening Night back inside SoFi Stadium in 2027.

“We actually really missed being at the host stadium for Opening Night,” Ewell said. “That’s an amazing opportunity not only for the media to get a sneak preview of the stadium campus, but for our fans who aren’t lucky enough to go to the Super Bowl — and for our players. They love getting a preview of the stadium. The integrity of the field is the most important thing to us. So unfortunately, because there are so many members of the media that come to Opening Night — over 2,000 — there was no place to bring them because we couldn’t use the field, which we did at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas and in New Orleans at the Superdome last year.

“I love that event. It’s my event. I produced that event. We’re hoping to bring it back into the stadium, especially obviously stadiums that have turf like the next two.”

Disneyland could play key role in next year’s Super Bowl week

One of the biggest challenges of the Bay Area Super Bowl this year was how spread out the events were.

Super Bowl Opening Night was in San Jose, the Media Center and NFL Experience were in San Francisco, the Host Committee Party was in Redwood City, the Super Bowl was in Santa Clara and the NFL’s official watch party was in Oakland.

“That’s why it’s called the Bay Area Super Bowl,” Ewell said. “We’re not just focusing on one city. We’re not focusing on just Santa Clara or San Francisco. It’s the entire Bay Area, inclusive of the South Bay, inclusive of Oakland and all the other communities. We want to make sure that we’re uplifting everybody and creating an opportunity for access and visibility and to be on a global stage.

“So, we are lucky enough that we have the Bay Area and the entire vastness of the area. It’s such a rich bench to pull from when it comes to vendors and businesses and restaurants and food and culture, so we’re lucky to be here. You might be in the car a little longer than you were in New Orleans or Vegas, but it’s still amazing.”

Things won’t be as spread out next year in Los Angeles — but there could be one notable drive. Multiple sources told The Sporting Tribune that Disneyland is being considered as the site of the host committee party in 2027.

The last time the Super Bowl was held in Los Angeles, Universal Studios hosted the host committee party when the game aired on NBC. The 2027 Super Bowl will air on ABC and ESPN, both owned by The Walt Disney Company.

In fact, Disneyland will already play a role immediately following this year’s Super Bowl as part of ESPN’s “The Handoff,” a 24-hour programming event marking ESPN’s first Super Bowl broadcast. ESPN will set up in Town Square at the foot of Main Street, U.S.A., inside Disneyland Park. First Take with Stephen A. Smith, multiple editions of SportsCenter, NFL Live and an episode of Super Bowl Live will originate from inside the park.

ESPN is considering a similar setup during Super Bowl week in Los Angeles. Disneyland Resort previously hosted ESPN’s on-site studio programming during Super Bowl week in 2022.

Other potential Los Angeles locations in play include the NFL Experience and Media Center at the Los Angeles Convention Center, and YouTube Theater — under the same canopy as SoFi Stadium — hosting NFL Honors.