This morning, the Hawai'i Tourism Authority is scheduled to revisit its decision to reject a contract to bring the National Football League's Pro Bowl back to Aloha Stadium. HTA should reverse itself and approve the $4 million-per-game investment.

In some respects, the Pro Bowl epitomizes Hawai'i — an experience that's exotic, entertaining and, for the players, a relaxing tropical vacation at the end of the season.

That's why many serious football fans dismiss the game as a meaningless exhibition. And the NFL, looking for a way to reach those fans, hopes to generate more excitement by holding the game a week before the Super Bowl, and in the same venue: Dolphin Stadium in Miami.

The experiment may not work — players from the Super Bowl teams won't participate, in 2010 or 2011. Even so, the NFL must recognize what many in Hawai'i already know: The game will succeed here, for players and fans.

The NFL's offer to commit to 2011 and 2012 — after the HTA wisely rejected a more vague schedule — is worth taking. In a place where football is arguably our favorite spectator sport, the Pro Bowl is a gift, bringing the best players to fans who may never get the chance to see them play on the Mainland.

It's also a reasonable business decision: The money from visitor spending and tax revenues was estimated this year at $28.6 million and $2.9 million, respectively.

And as a marketing tool, reaching a national audience in the depths of winter — well, that's priceless.