We recently connected with Wayne Coito and have shared our conversation below.

Wayne , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

Growing up on Oahu as someone who loves sports, you didn’t get many opportunities to see professionals play. We had the annual NFL Pro Bowl (and even that discontinued) and we even had the Padres play an entire regular season series in 1997.

Our main attraction has always been the University of Hawaii, particularly the football team, whom I’ve started watching as an infant until even now where I’m currently on a streak approaching 100-straight games in attendance, home & away.

As a child, my parents would take us on vacation every few years, so I’ve always been comfortable traveling. I finally convinced them to take me to a UH football game on the road when I was 18. The game was in El Paso, TX on a Saturday. By Sunday afternoon, we would be under the scorching hot Tempe sun watching the Cardinals play the Packers, my first “real” NFL game.

It was also on this trip where I had Tex Mex for the first time in an abbreviated trip that only cost me one day of school absence.

This experience stuck with me through college and beyond until I found myself wanting to do more as I was approaching 30, doing my own solo sports trips.

Finally, while sitting in the living room, my parents, seeing all the fun I was having alone, threw out the idea of “taking folks” on trips with me.

While tour companies had already existed in Hawaii taking fans to UH sporting events, no one was combining professional games and neither were they creating any type of experience around Local cuisine & culture, which I love discovering no matter what corner of the world I’m in.

Our first tour ran in late Summer 2012, starting with three MLB games in a row – at Padres, at Angels and at Dodgers, with a special meet-n-greet with player Shane Victorino after the game – and ended with the Hawaii football game at USC.

Since then we’ve led folks to 8 Super Bowls, NFL, NBA, MLB, and even international rugby in Australia & New Zealand.

Wayne , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Hawaii Sports Fans prioritizes Experience above all else. A curated adventure from start to finish, we make the process simple for you while packing in elements to your trip itinerary you probably wouldn’t have come up with yourself.

We know that you can experience one simple pro game from numerous angles— not only do we find the “best” one for you but we’ll also provided premium amenities and group areas that you wouldn’t have access to if you went to the park alone or in a pair.

The great seats, private amenities and hip eateries could make folks think this is something reserved for “rich people,” but that is certainly not the case.

Ultimately, we exist for fans with “taste”, those who allow us to take their adventures to the next level.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Doing something out-of-the-ordinary— sometimes it’s tough to see where to even start.

That first tour I soaked so much money into traditional advertising like the newspaper and radio with basically zero response.

Already thousands of dollars down with nothing to show for it, I took to the parks in my town, passing out business cards to folks trying to watch youth baseball, hoping that someone may find any interest in what I was offering.

That’s when I walked into my first clients, sitting along the third base line fence on one of the dozens of baseball diamonds I circled that day. Among them was their son, bound to a wheelchair, and I eagerly told them I would be able to make whatever accommodations necessary.

Fast forward 12 years later: I just accompanied the family to Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas – the most expensive ticket of them all, yet – finding them the only three accessible seats next to each other in the entire stadium and even getting them a price for an entire guided tour that many wouldn’t have been able to find just the ticket for.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Upon my graduation from college in 2007, the US economy was entering a recession and my desire to enter a job in the fields that I studied – Economics & Computer Science – was not very high.

I was to start a PhD program in Economics at the University of Hawaii, and I was able to convince the commissioner of a NCAA DII conference to be his intern.

I ended up not doing grad school at all and diving head first into college athletics administration, but also needed to supplement my income by teaching Math halftime at my old high school.

I also began auditioning for local commercials and production, trying to break into the entertainment industry.

As I booked my first acting and modeling jobs, transitioning to a union performer, I knew that I wanted to put my energy more into the on-camera space, as I was also hosting a show spotlighting the college athletes I was working for as well.

Working in a space like Entertainment really gets you to believe that you can live the life you want, rather than the life others expect from you.

By May 2012, I left the ever-stable teaching job to focus on acting, athletics admin, and my new company, Hawaii Sports Fans.

In 2020, the pandemic crushed both the TV & Film Industry and Sports Travel, as fans were locked out of stadiums, and that’s when I had to expand upon the Hawaii Sports Fans brand even more.

That’s when I started live broadcasting and a new podcast, which have helped me to bridge the skills I have acquired across the board and filter them into this medium.

One of my favorite interviews was with Heisman Trophy finalist, Colt Brennan, one of college football’s greatest quarterbacks and a legend at the University of Hawaii.

As the success on the field faded, Colt found himself on the wrong end of a series of poor decisions. Having that hour-plus conversation was massive to me as a fan as he shared intimate details of the pain and trouble that most of the public never saw, even as he was still going through it all.

Less than a year later, Colt would pass away.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.HIsportsfans.com
• Instagram: @hisportsfans
• Facebook: https://Facebook.com/hawaiisportsfans
• Linkedin: Hawaii Sports Fans
• Twitter: @hisportsfans
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/hawaiisportsfans

Image Credits

Russ Cannon