By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
Sure, she’s not much to look at compared to other iconic and ultra-moden college football stadiums.
But good ol’ Sam Boyd Stadium looking her age at 49 served as a utilitarian home for the UNLV football team, which for one final time Saturday was bussed on game day about seven miles to the 40,000-seat venue not too far from the Las Vegas Wash.
They played the 299th and final UNLV football game at Sam Boyd Stadium. The Rebels will play in the Raiders’ new luxurious domed football stadium just west of the Strip and Interstate 15 only a few miles west of UNLV’s campus in 2020. Former UNLV football great Randall Cunningham led 200 UNLV football alumni for the game’s coin toss before the Rebels’ game with San Jose State.
The Rebels closed the book on Sam Boyd Stadium in dramatic fashion with a topsy-turvy 38-35 win over San Jose State when a UNLV defensive lineman intercepted a San Jose pass off a deflection a mere five yards from the Rebs’ end zone. UNLV announced attendance was 17,373.
Fans snapped final home game photos and made final toasts to the stadium that hosted everything from XFL games and Grateful Dead, U2 and Metallica concerts to motorcycle races, the Las Vegas Bowl and monster truck rallies.
Ninety minutes before kickoff for the 1 p.m. UNLV-San Jose State game, UNLV sports fan Lori Cox and her tailgating gang dined on bagels, donuts and mimosas and reminisced about saying goodbye to good ol’ Sam.
“We’ve had this spot forever,” Cox said of her tailgating area a mere five-minute stroll to their seats. “We used to get 60, 70 people for games the first few years but then it would die as the team did.”
Indeed, the Rebels have struggled on the gridiron in 2019, securing only three wins out of 11 games so far. Coach Tony Sanchez, who worked to help the fundraising for the football team’s new $34 million training center on campus, might lose his job because of the small number of wins. But that’s to be decided on another day. Next week UNLV plays the Nevada college in Reno.
The Nevada Regents more than a year and a half ago approved UNLV playing its football games at what is now called Allegiant Stadium under a naming rights deal between the Raiders and the Summerlin-based airline. It’s unclear how much UNLV will pay the Raiders for the game costs of using the palatial 65,000-seat venue on the west side of I-15 across from Mandalay Bay hotel-casino.
UNLV has experienced a spike in season ticket sales this season thanks to the deal that allowed fans who bought season tickets at Sam Boyd Stadium in 2019 to have seats in comparable locations at the same price at the Raiders’ stadium in 2020.
Cox’s tailgating friends — George Cole, his wife, Lori, and brother, Bryan — have set up the grill, quaffed beers and chatted before UNLV football games for 33 years.
“I have mixed feelings” about moving, George Cole said. “We have nice parking here. It’s a five-minute walk to my seat.
Cracked Cole’s younger brother Bryan, “We’ve been toasting here since 10:30 a.m.”
The Coles say have renewed their season tickets for UNLV’s new home, paying a mere $200 or so for seats that are in comparable locations as their seats at Sam Boyd Stadium. It’s an affordable season ticket deal when you consider many Vegas Golden Knights home game tickets on the secondary market can cost at least $200.
Tailgater Drew Nellen joined the small party, recalling the days when they used to bring a giant trailer and grill for the pregame festivities.
“Back in the hey day,” Nellen said, “this used to be the best event.”
*
Follow LVSportsBiz.com on Twitter and Instagram. Like LVSportsBiz.com on Facebook.