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By Alan Snel, LVSportsBiz.com Publisher/Writer
UNLV paid nearly $2.2 million to the Las Vegas Raiders to rent Allegiant Stadium for its six college football games this past season.
The amounts ranged from $354,141.36 for the UNLV vs North Texas game on Sept. 17 to $371,775.37 for the UNLV vs Idaho home-opener on Aug. 27.
Four years ago when the Nevada Board of Regents took its first public look at the Raiders-UNLV joint use agreement, a per game rental fee of $250,000, termed a “rough estimate,” was mentioned as the cost for UNLV to use the Raiders stadium. When UNLV played football games at Sam Boyd Stadium, UNLV spent $50,000-$75,000 to hold games there.
UNLV spent $2,174,245.11 for the six games, according to a UNLV Athletic Department document under a public records request. The Raiders run the 62,000-seat domed stadium on the west side of Interstate 15 across from Mandalay Bay hotel-casino.
UNLV pays the Raiders to use the stadium under an agreement that was hashed out before the venue opened. The 2016 state legislation that required Southern Nevada to contribute $750 million toward the stadium’s construction included wording that allows UNLV to play its football games at the Raiders-controlled venue.
Here’s the game-by-game breakdown of the UNLV stadium costs for 2022:
UNLV’s football team began playing in Allegiant Stadium in 2020, hosting only three game because of the COVID-19 pandemic. With UNLV hosting only 2,000 fans per game in two of the three games, it cost UNLV only $50,000 to $150,000 per game in 2020, according to a UNLV official.
But two years later, the UNLV per game costs skyrocketed to more than $350,000 per game as the average attendance was about 22,000 in 2022. The UNLV football team used to play at Sam Boyd Stadium about seven miles from campus near the Las Vegas Wash. Sam Boyd Stadium is permanently closed. UNLV does receive compensation of up to $3.5 million annually for shuttering Sam Boyd Stadium.