Dana White Shoots Down UFC Hawaii
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Though he amditted that UFC Hawaii was on tap for 2018, UFC president Dana White then revealed that it got shot down by the Hawaiian Tourism Authority (HTA).
“I'll tell you guys today,” White said at Wednesday's UFC 223 Pre-Fight Press Conference in Brooklyn, N.Y. “It was happening this year and it got shut down by the tourism board there. So, it won't happen anytime soon, but we were geared up and ready to go there this year. It isn't happening.”
According to a report from KHON2 Hawaii Sports Director Rob DeMello, it wasn't as simple as the HTA shot down the idea; it was more that the two parties were too far apart on the money requested to bring a UFC event to Hawaii.
“We worked very closely with UFC. We really wanted to make it work and have it come to Hawaii. We were just too far apart on the money,” the authority said to KHON2.
While HTA officials met with UFC officials and had some solid discussions as they tried to bring UFC 227 to Hawaii in August, there was a reported $5 million gap in what the UFC wanted and what the HTA was willing to offer.
UFC wanted a $6 million sponsorship fee, but the Tourism Authority's board of directors approved a $1 million sponsorship fee, leaving a sizable chasm between the two sides.
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“That's really all we could afford as a state agency,” HTA spokeswoman Leslie Dance told KHON2. “The Stadium Authority couldn't participate because of the rules they have, so we didn't know how we could make up the difference unless the legislature allocated money, but I don't think that would happen.”
Dance added that the UFC's $6 million sponsorship request exceeded the HTA's entire sports marketing budget of $5.8 million.
