Inside Las Vegas Sports Marketing: Sam Boyd Stadium’s Farewell Season
By Alan Snel
LVSportsBiz.com
In 30 days, the UNLV football team will begin its 2019 season with a game against Southern Utah at Sam Boyd Stadium. The Aug. 31 season-opener will also mark the start of the final season at the 40,000-fan football stadium seven miles from campus near the Las Vegas Wash. UNLV will say farewell to the stadium with a series of free T-shirts and other goodies. LVSportsBiz.com asked the football team’s communications representative, Mark Wallington, and UNLV athletics marketing specialist, Megan Caligiuri, about Sam Boyd Stadium’s final season as UNLV’s football home. (When the Rebels football team moves to the Raiders stadium two miles to the west of campus in 2020, UNLV will pay the Raiders operating costs for use of the venue. The Raiders run the stadium and have hired Los Angeles-based AEG Facilities to manage the venue for them.)
LVSportsBiz.com: What do you think Sam Boyd Stadium will be known for the most?
Mark Wallington: Sam Boyd Stadium has not just served as the home to the Rebels for five decades but also brought countless Southern Nevadans together as the largest venue in the state until the Las Vegas Motor Speedway opened. It allowed an array of large-scale, outdoor events to thrive here — from the famously giant crowds for the Grateful Dead concerts to the original XFL franchise to serving as home to what is now the high-profile Las Vegas Bowl. I think most people who have lived in this community for a few years have a memory of attending either a UNLV football game or a night of Supercross or some other great event at the stadium over the decades.
*
LVSB: Do you think people will miss Sam Boyd Stadium?
MW: I am already hearing from a lot of fans, including my own daughters who have grown up in that stadium, that they are really excited about Las Vegas Stadium but that they’re going to miss Sam Boyd. It holds a lot of history for a lot of people and I think there will be more than a few tears shed at that last game on November 23.
*
LVSB: How did you guys come up with the specific T-shirt designs?
Megan Caligiuri: We wanted to do something special to celebrate our last year in Sam Boyd Stadium and the five decades that we have called it home. We decided to celebrate a different decade each game to pay homage to those Rebels that have come before, have some fun with the themes, and bid a final farewell during our last game. It only seemed fitting to do a giveaway series that mirrored the season-long theme. Our team got together, researched or recalled trends from each decade and workshopped designs that fit. For example, the 2000s shirt was inspired by the iconic iPod ads from the time. In alignment with Breast Cancer Awareness, we pictured Hey Reb as a silhouette (minus the white mustache) listening to UNLV’s fight song with the words Go.Fight.Win.
*
LVSB: What reactions have you received so far in response to the Sam Boyd promotional goodies?
MC: We had folks upgrade their ticket packages to include the Guaranteed Giveaway, which provides season ticket holders the opportunity to purchase the giveaways in advance, without any sponsors on it, and in the size they want. That was a successful new benefit for our season ticket holders.
*
LVSB: Do you think new fans are buying season tickets for the first time because it allows them to buy tickets at the same price at the new stadium? (Season tickets, which start as low as $99, are available now and as part of UNLV’s Faithful Fan Pricing initiative, fans purchasing season tickets this year may purchase season tickets for the same per-game price in the new Las Vegas Stadium opening in 2020.)
MC: There is a lot of excitement around Las Vegas Stadium. The opportunity to pay the same price per game in 2020 and experience a $1.9 billion dollar facility with all the conveniences and amenities it offers has certainly motivated new people to join as Faithful Fans in 2019. We have more than doubled the number of new season tickets purchased last year and are already at the second-highest season ticket sales in nine years.
*
Follow LVSportsBiz.com on Twitter and Instagram and like LVSportsBiz.com on Facebook.
