Seattle Bowl sacked after two years

The Seattle Bowl, which battled financial problems throughout its two-year run, is no more.

The NCAA Football Certification Subcommittee decided yesterday not to re-certify the Seattle Bowl — apparently the only one of 29 bowl games that applied that was not approved — bringing the game to an end, at least for this year.

"Obviously, we are very disappointed in the decision," said Jim Haugh, Seattle Bowl executive director, who attended the meetings in San Diego.

The game was played in 2001 at Safeco Field and last year at Seahawks Stadium, and while it drew decent TV ratings, it failed to attract much notice in Seattle and also was beset by financial problems. The game missed two deadlines for providing a $1.5 million letter of credit last year and there were also reports that bowl organizers had been late or negligent in paying many of their debts.

"I think it really came down to that they had issues with how the game was run last year," Haugh said.

The game was run the last two years by Aloha Sports Inc. owned by Terry Daw, a Hawaii businessman. Daw was in the process of attempting to sell the company to Pro Sports & Entertainment Inc, based in Santa Barbara, Calif.

But that sale was held up and there had been reports that PSEI did not have a valid business license. Also, Daw's company was being sued for $250,000 by the Mountain West Conference, which was under contract to supply its No. 4 team to the game to face the No. 6 team from the Atlantic Coast Conference.

But despite the lawsuit, Daw said the MWC "testified on our behalf" at yesterday's meetings.

"Basically, it's just the teams (that haven't been paid)," Daw said. "Most of the debts in Seattle were paid. Maybe there were a few small ones left out there."

Haugh alleges the NCAA had a double standard, specifically mentioning that he felt the NCAA showed favoritism toward ESPN, which now owns three bowls, including a new game set for Fort Worth, Texas.

"The NCAA is apparently willing to look one way for some people but not for others," he said.

NCAA officials had no comment yesterday, saying the official list of bowls that have been certified for this season will be released today.

NCAA officials had previously said that they wanted the Seattle Bowl to show it was getting significant involvement from the local community. Initially, local football legends such as Chuck Nelson and Don James helped promote the game. The NCAA also worried that the Seattle Bowl was unable to attract a title sponsor last year and didn't enlist 989 Sports as a sponsor until a week before the 2001 game.

A sponsor was still uncertain, but Haugh said PSEI was set to receive help from two local investors.

"We tried to cover all our bases but the NCAA felt differently," Haugh said.