ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
By Alan Snel, LVSportsBiz.com Publisher/Writer
Moments after UNLV’s football team trotted off the Allegiant Stadium artificial turf with a big win over North Texas after 3 PM Saturday, a small army of workers went to work to convert the domed stadium from UNLV’s home to the Raiders’ home.
The stadium’s retractable field trays are the marquee tech stars of the domed venue. But converting the stadium from hosting a college football game to entertaining 60,000 fans for an NFL contest is a lot more than swapping out UNLV’s artificial turf for the Raiders’ new natural grass needed for Sunday’s Las Vegas vs. Arizona game less than 24 hours later.
UNLV and the Raiders played back-to-back days at Allegiant Stadium on August 26 and 27, but in that case the Raiders played first against the Patriots in a preseason game on a Friday at 5:15PM, while the Rebels played the next day on a Saturday at 12:30 PM against Idaho State. In that case, UNLV was forced to play on the Raiders grass field because the artificial turf was not installed.
On Saturday after UNLV’s win over North Texas, the Rebels’ licensed logo gear needed to be removed from retail stores and points of sale inside the stadium, while digital UNLV branding magically disappeared in favor of the Raiders’ logos on all electronic signage.
It was remarkable how quickly the conversion started and proceeded.
Raiders digital signage, even in the elevators, went into effect less than an hour after the Rebels left the field with a decisive win over the North Texas squad. It should be noted that UNLV and the Raiders share two other home weekends at Allegiant Stadium, but the Rebels games against New Mexico on Sept. 30 and Fresno State on Nov. 11 are both Friday night games. That gives the stadium conversion crews more time to get the venue ready for Raiders Sunday games against the Broncos on Oct.. 2 and the Colts Nov. 13.
The biggest job, naturally, was removing the UNLV artificial turf and prepping the stadium for the installing of the new Raiders grass that moves indoors via retractable tray. The Raiders played two exhibition games against the Vikings and Patriots on a grass field that looked worn in some sections from previous soccer games, but today’s game against Arizona is supposed to have a new grass field.
On Saturday after the UNLV-North Texas game, rolls of artificial turf were being removed with the Raiders grass field tray rolling in later.
In 2020. the Raiders posted a lot of photos showing the natural grass moving indoors. There was also NFL coverage of the retractable field.
The Raiders, after losing 24-19 to the Los Angeles Chargers last Sunday, seek their first win of 2022 at 1:25PM today.