Will Hawaii Host Rams in Future Regular-Season Game?

The Rams will travel to London in Week 7 for a game against Jacksonville. Next year, they’ll travel to Australia for that nation’s first regular-season NFL game. Could they return to Hawaii for a regular-season game in the foreseeable future?

The 50th state hosted the team’s minicamp earlier this month, in a community-minded gesture initiated by the Rams primarily to help Maui continue to recover from devastating wildfires (something with which the Rams and other Los Angeles residents are painfully familiar).

But a regular-season NFL game in Hawaii certainly is possible. After all, Honolulu hosted the league’s Pro Bowl festivities at Aloha Stadium to conclude the 1979-2008, 2010-13 and 2015 seasons. It also hosted the Rams and Cowboys in a 2019 preseason game.

The most important ingredient is obviously an NFL-ready stadium. Aloha Stadium hasn’t hosted an event since it closed after the 2019 college football season and officials hope to begin a long demolition process in August. The University of Hawaii Rainbow Warriors now play on campus at the 15,194-seat Clarence T. C. Ching Athletics Complex, obviously not a suitable venue.

But when Aloha Stadium demolition begins – a piece-by-piece dismantling is necessary rather than an implosion due to the structure’s steel skeleton – a new facility is on deck. In fact, demolition crews will leave the north and south concrete foundations in place to support the new facility.

The New Aloha Stadium Entertainment District (NASED) is in place with tentative plans to open a venue in the fall of 2028. However, the new stadium will begin with a 25,000-seat capacity. Whether that number could expand for a potential Rams regular-season game is unclear.

For context, the Steelers will serve as the designated home team against the Vikings on Sept. 28 at Croke Park in Dublin, Ireland. The historic facility currently serves as a rugby facility and seats 69,100. A Rams home game in Hawaii figures to require more than 25,000 seats, although the Chargers played at 27,000-seat Dignity Health Sports Park (also known as the StubHub Center) for three seasons upon returning to Los Angeles in 2017.

NFL and NFL Players Association officials likely would care more about field quality and infrastructure to support the needed technology and communications required for an official game.

In announcing the team’s plans to hold minicamp in Maui, Rams president Kevin Demoff said he worked in conjunction with the state’s governor, Josh Green, and the Hawaii Tourism Authority.

“Los Angeles and Hawaii share a special relationship,” Demoff said in a statement, “and we are grateful to HTA for teaming with us for this historic partnership. Not only will this trip be a great opportunity for our players, coaches and their families to spend time together in a special setting, but also for our organization to celebrate and pour into youth football programs and players who call Maui home.”

The best source for breaking Rams news is Twitter (X). Be sure to follow @RamsInsideronSI and @BrockVierra.

Plus, visit the Facebook page here to connect with fans around the world.