The bird watch on Kauai continues.
Attendance for a key game between Kapaa and Kauai at Vidinha Stadium on Saturday afternoon drew 1,250 fans, Red Raiders athletic director Ross Shimabukuro said.
Kapaa won the game, 24-13, to move into a first-place tie with perennial power Kauai. That’s good news down the road; a close race will spike attendance even though fans are still getting used to high school football on hot afternoons rather than Friday nights.
With attendance down roughly 40 percent — Kapaa-Kauai normally draws more than 2,000 to Vidinha — the KIF is likely to lose in excess of $35,000 in gate revenue.
“I would assume from what I’ve seen in the first two (league) games, it might be more than that,” Shimabukuro said of the mandated change in kickoff times due to a federal law that protects Newell’s Shearwater birds. The threatened species began its fledgling season on Sept. 15, traveling from mountain to shore. That means no lights from stadiums and fields for three months.
Paul Honda, Star-Advertiser
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