New Mexico’s Football Partial Bubble In Las Vegas Can Be Template For NFL, Other College Football Programs During Pandemic
By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the sports world in March, LVSportsBiz.com made a bold suggestion: Make Las Vegas a regional sports industry bubble for the Western United States.
Well, one university has done just about that for 42 days that ends Monday.
New Mexico left Albuquerque because of COVID-19 issues in its home state and transplanted its football operations in Las Vegas early last month, using a quasi-bubble set-up at Hilton Las Vegas and practicing/playing football games at Sam Boyd Stadium, UNLV football’s former home. Both the lodging base and the football venue provided ideal bubble environments because both are geographically isolated from rest of Las Vegas and the Strip.
As a result, New Mexico’s 140 players and staffers have not had a single COVID-19 positive result out of 160 tests three times a week over a seven-week period.
The NFL might want to duplicate the New Mexico quasi-bubble template because not a single coronavirus infection has marred the Lobos’ football program since the university set up shop in Las Vegas. The NFL’s COVID-19 troubles have forced the league to reschedule games while forging ahead with the gridiron contests to receive the lucrative billion-dollar TV broadcast rights revenues.
It’s not a 100 percent sealed bubble because there are about 20-50 other non-New Mexico hotel guests at the Hilton Lake Las Vegas resort and the New Mexico football players are allowed to leave the hotel to visit a neighboring Lake Las Vegas market to buy snacks, said David Williams, New Mexico deputy athletic director.
This does not come cheap. New Mexico will spend $375,000 for its group of 140 to stay 42 nights at Hilton Lake Las Vegas. New Mexico also pays UNLV $400 a day to practice at Sam Boyd Stadium and about $30,000 for each of the three game days at Sam Boyd Stadium, Williams told LVSportsBiz.com Thursday.
Williams called the availability of Sam Boyd Stadium a “unicorn” situation. “They have something in game shape and Mountain West quality, but nobody was using it,” Williams said. He noted UNLV Athletic Director Desiree Reed-Francois and New Mexico Athletic Director Eddie Nunez worked out the deal.
New Mexico was able to set up their sports sponsors’ signs on the Sam Boyd Stadium field.
Williams explained that New Mexico’s media sponsors company, Playfly, was able to discuss contract details with the sponsors to change deals in light of the pandemic and the fact no fans attend the Lobos games at Sam Boyd Stadium. He did say that the sponsors’ signage was valued at $125,000 per game on TV thanks to the signs’ exposure during broadcasts.
“We’re trying to do as much as we can with sponsors,” William said. “We’ve had conversations with our sponsors. We’ve talked about can we give them more social media mentions or radio spots. We knew there would be issues (because of the pandemic). We are more worried about long-term relationships than a one-year gain.”
New Mexico plays Fresno State Saturday night. It’s the third home game for the Lobos in Las Vegas. That’s the same number of home games played by UNLV at new Allegiant Stadium. The UNLV/Boise State game scheduled for last Friday was canceled because of COVID-19 problems.
San Jose State called New Mexico about playing its game against Nevada at Sam Boyd Stadium and to learn the logistics of playing a Mountain West Conference game in Las Vegas. New Mexico is cooperating with San Jose State so that San Jose State — which cannot play in its home county in California because of COVID-19 restrictions — can play Nevada at Sam Boyd Stadium Friday evening.
San Jose State’s football program is also staying in Lake Las Vegas, at the Weston. And after New Mexico’s practice ends at 10:30 a.m. at Sam Boyd Stadium, San Jose State takes the practice field this week at 11 a.m. Players from each football program do not intersect at Sam Boyd Stadium. “We never see each other at the stadium. We clean up and disinfect every possible thing,” Williams said.
“They’re copying what we’re doing,” Williams said of San Jose State’s logistical game plan in Las Vegas this week.
Williams hopes that players, who are taking finals this week, will benefit academically from being isolated in Las Vegas away from girlfriends and non-football friends. He noted the players’ academic advisors and tutors are with the football program in Las Vegas and that the players work on academics from 12 noon to 4 p.m. daily after morning practice.
The NFL San Francisco 49ers have also been forced to leave Northern California because of COVID-19 restrictions in Santa Clara County, and they will play their games at the Arizona Cardinals’ stadium in metro Phoenix. Williams noted that some NFL team representatives have contacted New Mexico’s team trainers about COVID-19 strategies.
The isolation of Lake Las Vegas from the Strip and other Las Vegas attractions where people congregate has helped keep New Mexico’s novel coronavirus infections at zero.
“We wouldn’t be able to contain our guys from walking the Strip,” Williams said.
