NFL will hold 2012 Pro Bowl in Hawaii

In a joint press release, the NFL and the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) announced on Friday that the league will indeed be holding the NFL Pro Bowl, the league’s All-Star game. The game will be played on January 27 2013 and the game will be played in Hawaii. During the 2010 season, the NFL moved the game to the site of the Super Bowl, Miami while moving the game to the week prior to the Super Bowl, rather than the following week.

There was a possibility that the All-Star event could have been played this season in New Orleans, the site of this year’s Super Bowl, but it would have conflicted with the annual Mardi Gras celebration held in New Orleans.

The game has drawn criticism regarding the quality of play on the field, prompting NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to suggest the league might eliminate the annual event. The league and players have vowed that the level of play in the game will improve. Exactly how the players and league will accomplish that remains to be seen.Last year, the AFC defeated the NFC by the score 59-41.

NFL Executive Vice President Ray Anderson issued the following statement, “The players have made it clear through the NFL Players Association that they would like the opportunity to continue to play the Pro Bowl in Hawaii. We will support the players on this initiative to improve the Pro Bowl. We have had many discussions with the players in recent years about the Pro Bowl and they recognize that the quality of the game has not been up to NFL standards. We look forward to working with the players toward the goal of improving the competitiveness of this season’s game.”

This marks the 33rd time the Pro Bowl game will be played in Hawaii. Last season, the Pro Bowl generated 12.5 million television viewers, the most of any of the professional sports all-star games.