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Story by Alan Snel Photos by Hugh Byrne
With each tackle, and every completed pass, UNLV’s football team is slowly creeping into the hearts and minds — and the wallet — of the Las Vegas sports fan.
In a very competitive market that will feature a first-time Formula One race down the Strip in November (that’s another story) and the NFL staging Super Bowl 58 at Allegiant Stadium in February, a UNLV football team that has made one bowl game in 22 years has 27,000 tickets out there for today’s Rebels vs Hawaii Rainbow Warriors game.
At 27,000, that’s the second biggest attended game for UNLV inside Allegiant Stadium since the Rebels began playing in the domed home of the NFL Raiders. Only the UNLV vs Iowa State (think Brock Purdy) game in 2021 drew more fans for a UNLV football game at Allegiant Stadium.
Attendance was officially announced at 25,328 for the game dubbed, the “Ninth Island Showdown.”
After UNLV’s convincing win over Hawaii, LVSportsBiz.com spoke with UNLV Athletic Director Erick Harper about marketing Rebels football games in a busy Vegas sports market.
Harper said he’d like to get more UNLV students to games, noting about 2,000-2,500 currently attend Rebels games and he’d like to see at least 3,000 students at football games.
“It’s not where we want it to be,” Harper said.
He believes the UNLV football ticket can be a family-friendly alternative to the more pricey sports tickets in the market.
Nothing replaces winning as a marketing tool.
“The more you win, the more excitement you have,” Harper said.
Despite UNLV’s football failures and smallish crowds on Saturdays in previous seasons, there’s a curiosity and slight buzz in town around the Rebels’ coach, Barry Odom. He’s a veteran SEC coach who was the head man at Missouri and the defensive coordinator at Arkansas.
He’s a direct, blunt-talking personality who played linebacker and speaks with the force of a linebacker hitting a running back in the backfield.
This game was not only important to our team and to our university, but also to Las Vegas. With conference play starting, the ability to continue the momentum we have built so far in our program, the importance of every single conference game, that’s so huge for where we are trying to get to. This is the first time we have scored 40 points in three straight games, that’s tremendous. We had a great offensive performance. We had six sacks and didn’t give up any on the other side. That’s complimentary football. When we can do that and play well in all three phases together, we’ve got an opportunity to continue to play winning ball … I’m proud of this team for what we’ve done now through five weeks. — UNLV football coach Barry Odom
And UNLV winning three of its first four games of the season has caught the attention of the locals. Saturday, the Rebels host Hawaii, which is expected to beef up attendance at Allegiant Stadium with its fans.
UNLV is selling three-game football game deals and trying to entice Las Vegans with an affordable ticket (relatively speaking, compared to the pricey Raiders and Golden Knights tickets.).
In 2022, UNLV paid $354,000 to $371,000 a game to play at Allegiant Stadium. The Raiders’ stadium is another enticement UNLV is using to bolster attendance. UNLV advertised a 12-person suite for $3,000 per game.
UNLV bolted out to a quick 7-0 lead on a 16-yard TD pass from Rebels quarterback Jayden Maiava and placekicker Jose Pizano nailed a 52-yard field goal to give the Rebels a 10-0 lead.
Hawaii responded with a field goal after two long pass completions in the second quarter to cut into the UNLV lead at 10-3.
Pizano answered with a short field goal and UNLV led 13-3 late in the first half.
Courtney Reese ran four yards to give UNLV a 20-3 advantage at halftime.
It’s hard to find two more different head coaches in UNLV’s current coach, Odom, and his fired successor, Marcus Arroyo. Under Odom, UNLV’s defense is playing with more confidence as defenders are playing in the opposition’s backfield.
In today’s game, for example, UNLV sacked Hawaii quarterback Brayden Schager five times. Arroyo was the former Oregon offensive coordinator and UNLV defenses during his stint yielded lots of yards and points.
Odom has relied on red-shirt freshman Maiava from local Liberty High School in Las Vegas to helm the quarterback after Doug Brumfield was injured against Vanderbilt in the third game of the season. Maiava led UNLV to a wild, dramatic win over Vandy.
UNLV’s ground game continued to roll today, generating 297 yards by late in the fourth quarter as the Rebs were leading, 44-20.
The rushing attack finished with 307 yards and UNLV wrapped up the 44-20 victory, claiming the big pineapple trophy.
The Rebels improved to 4-1 and have next week off before traveling to Reno to play Nevada Oct. 14.