By Alan Snel, LVSportsBiz.com Publisher-Writer
Raiders owner Mark Davis visited the UNLV football center with a $1 million check to donate.
And let’s just say the reception at the Fertitta Football Complex was a lot warmer than Raiders’ fans catcalls Davis had to deal with two days earlier at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles where Silver & Black faithful screamed at Davis at the Chargers-Raiders game to fire Raiders coach Josh McDaniels with the Raiders off to a dismal 1-3 start.
On Tuesday, UNLV President Keith Whitfield, Athletic Director Erick “Harp” Harper and UNLV Football coach Barry Odom were grateful and thankful hosts inside what is now the “Al Davis Team Room.”
Davis said the Raiders and UNLV’s football team are “roomies” at the Raiders-managed Allegiant Stadium.
True, they’re roommates in the sense that the two football teams play inside the same domed stadium.
But when its comes to dollars and cents, the Raiders are the landlord and UNLV’s football team is the tenant, with UNLV paying the Raiders nearly $2.2 million in rent to play six games in the stadium in 2022.
Whitfield acknowledged to LVSportsBiz.com after the $1 million donation announcement that “it’s not free” to play inside Allegiant Stadium.
LVSportsBiz.com asked Harper how the $1 million will be spent. The athletic director said the money will go towards a broad range of student needs such as enhancing the student-athlete experience.
Before the donation event at 2 PM, social media sizzled with fans at the Chargers-Raiders game at SoFi Stadium screaming at Davis to fire McDaniels, the former Patriots offensive coordinator who on six of 17 games in his first season in 2022 and has won only a game out of the first four in 2023.
Davis was videotaped clapping back at fans, telling them to smarten up and giving a thumbs up sign at the end of the video.
Davis was sitting in a box that was open to fans walking by at the Raiders game in Los Angeles on Sunday. The Raiders owner is among the most personable and accessible owners in pro sports, often talking with fans before Raiders games and also at Las Vegas Aces games.
Davis also owns the Aces, which play the New York Liberty in the WNBA Finals starting with Game 1 at 12 noon Sunday.
At the $1 million donation announcement, Odom said he began as a football fan being a Raiders fan.
Whitfield also also praised Odom for this year’s UNLV football start, which has resulted in four wins in the first five games. That included a 44-20 walloping of Hawaii at Allegiant Stadium on Sunday.
Odom replaced former UNLV football coach Marcus Arroyo, who was fired by Harper after a 5-7 season in 2022. Whitfield told LVSportsBiz.com after today’s donation event that Arroyo was “not the complete package” and was pleased with Odom’s performance so far in 2023. UNLV has an off week this weekend and then plays in-state rival Nevada, Reno on the road Oct. 14.