By Alan Snel
LVSportsBiz.com
Photos by J. Tyge O’Donnell
UNLV’s football team began saying farewell to Sam Boyd Stadium amid a beastly 107 degrees at kickoff Saturday as fans received commemorative 1970-themed T-shirts and posters for the season-long sendoff.
Players and fans celebrated a big win over Southern Utah as the Rebels pounded the Thunderbirds, 56-23, before announced attendance of 17,421 for the 2019 season-opener.
The Rebs move to the Raiders’ new Allegiant Stadium next season and there were promotional signs and scoreboard messages inside Sam Boyd Stadium urging fans to buy 2020 season ticket plans that cost as less than $20 a game.
After 48 seasons at Sam Boyd Stadium, the Rebels were 153-131-3 at home near the Las Vegas Wash seven miles from campus — a fine record when you consider the football team’s all-time record is 250 wins and 331 losses, with four ties.
Season ticket sales are up for 2019 thanks to fans who are buying into UNLV’s deal that allows them to buy season tickets at comparable prices and seat locations for the 2020 season at Allegiant Stadium, scheduled to be built by July 31, 2020.
Learfield, which handles the sponsorship buys for UNLV, hopes to have perimeter ad digital technology at Allegiant Stadium that you typically see at big-time Premier League soccer games, said Dan Dolby, general manager of Learfield’s operations at UNLV.
Dolby explained UNLV cannot bring in a sponsor to the Raiders stadium that would compete with a Raiders’ sponsor in that same category. For example, the Raiders have Caesars Entertainment as a founding sponsor at the stadium, while UNLV football has Boyd Gaming and South Point hotel-casino as sponsors.
But Dolby said he hopes there could be talks to address that exclusive sponsor category issue at Allegiant Stadium. We interviewed Dolby before this evening’s game to discuss that issue and other sponsor topics.
In other cases, both the Raiders and UNLV have same sponsors such as Raising Cane’s chicken fingers, so there are no conflicts in those situations.
LVSportsBiz.com asked UNLV Athletic Director Desiree Reed-Francois before the game whether there is extra pressure on the football team in 2019 because of the move to an impressive new venue next season.
“We’re all competitors,” Reed-Francois said before the game. “If you want to have a championship . . . you have to get one percent better every single day.”
Coach Tony Sanchez entered his fifth season with a 16-32 record. The Rebs are trying to build momentum in 2019 as they head into the palatial 65,000-seat domed venue and there’s a feeling among UNLV pundits that it’s bowl or bust for the likeable Sanchez.
We talked with Jon Tritsch of Channel 8 Sports for his thoughts on Sanchez and the UNLV season.
UNLV was also hyping its basketball team and new coach T.J. Otzelberger with a promo on the scoreboard at halftime for season tickets at Thomas & Mack Center where attendance was weak during the 2018-19 season.
UNLV cruised to the lopsided win as running back Charles Williams ran for 143 yards and three touchdowns, while quarterback Armani Rogers ran for 114 yards and two TDs while also tossing a touchdown.
The Rebs led only 7-0 after one quarter, but scored 28 points in the second quarter and another 21 points in the third period en route to the rout.
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