The NFL Pro Bowl is a huge rip-off for Hawaii taxpayers

Every year, the Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA) subsidizes the NFL's Pro Bowl, the annual all-star game that doesn't earn great ratings and struggles to maintain player participation. A new study by two economics professors at College of the Holy Cross reveals that spending is a much poorer deal for Hawaiian taxpayers than the HTA claims.

In 2014, for example, the HTA paid the NFL $4 million for the right to host the event and covered an additional $152,000 in event costs. The NFL kept all the ticket and media profits from the event. In return, the agency claimed, up to 47,000 additional tourists visited the Hawaiian islands to watch the game, bringing their money with them.

But the study's analysis of flight records at all of Hawaii's airports around game time found that claim to be false. The researchers said that there was "no statistically significant increase in tourism associated with the game" — leading them to conclude that the $5 million subsidy for the 2016 Pro Bowl is not justified.

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