Want To Play A College Football Game At Sam Boyd Stadium? New Mexico Did Three Times At $30,000 A Game
By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
LVSportsBiz.com photos by J. Tyge O’Donnell
They’re dressed in red jerseys and red pants and they actually look like they fit in well at Sam Boyd Stadium, where the grandstands consist of long red benches in every section.
The New Mexico Lobos seem right at home at UNLV’s old football stadium, which is hosting the University of Mexico because there are COVID-19 problems back in Albuquerque.
Big red banners bearing the names of New Mexico’s sponsors adorn sections behind the Lobos bench. Pepsi, Route 66 hotel and casino, University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Centers, Nusenda Credit Union, Pepsi and UNM Health have their logos on the section-wide banners.
Sam Boyd Stadium’s sections are empty with the exception of about a dozen Lobos players in red sweats standing in the first three rows and a few cameramen doing video for the CBS Sports Network broadcast. They stroll from section to section based on where the football rests on the artificial surface that doesn’t have a hint of UNLV. “New Mexico” is painted into one end zone, while “Lobos” is in the other.
New Mexico has not had a single player test positive for the novel coronavirus since the 140-member traveling party set up shop at Hilton Lake Las Vegas.
New Mexico pays UNLV $30,000 for each game at Sam Boyd Stadium, while the school pays $400 a day to practice at the 40,000-fan venue that has hosted everything from motocross and monster truck events to concerts.
The Lobos have split their two games so far at Sam Boyd Stadium, losing to Nevada and defeating Wyoming. New Mexico was 1-5 entering tonight’s game. Nevada has played three games in Las Vegas — beating New Mexico, but losing to San Jose State, 30-20, at Sam Boyd Stadium Friday night. Nevada also defeated UNLV at Allegiant Stadium on Halloween.
New Mexico and Fresno State played an entertaining game. The Bulldogs led New Mexico at the halftime, 24-21, and 31-28 after three quarters. But the Lobos turned the juice on in the fourth quarter, outscoring Fresno State, 21-8, to secure a 49-39 win and finish 2-5 with their sole two victories coming as a home team in Las Vegas in the age of COVID-19.
The Lobos players leave Sunday and New Mexico Deputy Director David Williams turns the lights off in Las Vegas on Monday.
Such is the football life under a pandemic.
