Veteran Las Vegas Bowl Participant Utah Takes On Northwestern In Bowl Game Saturday, With 30K-35K Fans Expected At Allegiant Stadium
By Alan Snel, LVSportsBiz.com Publisher/Writer
With the Las Vegas sports landscape changing rapidly these days, there is always two December rites — the National Finals Rodeo at UNLV’s Thomas & Mack Center and the Las Vegas Bowl.
After NFR wrapped up Dec. 16. the coaches for this year’s SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl contenders — Northwestern and Utah — Friday joined two players from each squad to chat before Saturday’s 4:30 PM game at Allegiant Stadium. It’s the 32nd Las Vegas Bowl.
Like when it hosts UNLV football games, Allegiant Stadium does not need to open the upper bowl for the Las Vegas Bowl Saturday. So at most, figure 30,000-35,000 for a game that includes a team that has played in both the bowl game and this stadium before.
Utah is no stranger to the Las Vegas Bowl, while the Utes have won Pac-12 titles in the league’s championship game at Allegiant Stadium in 2021 and 2022. Utah has won four of five Las Vegas Bowl games, with all of those games played at old Sam Boyd Stadium near the Las Vegas Wetlands. The last time Utah played in a Las Vegas Bowl it was a 35-28 thrilling win over state rival BYU in 2015.
This is a new era in college football economics as players are sticking around much longer thanks to be paid in NIL money and are also transferring to different colleges like free agents in professional sports leagues.
Utah coach Kyle Whittingham, 64, in his 19th year at Utah, said the players deserve the money.
“They are the show,” Whittingham said in response to a LVSportsBiz.com question about college football’s new era. “You have to continue to adapt to the times and stay in tune with what’s going on.”
One bowl game feature is that the two teams will deploy in-helmet communication modeled after the NFL in-helmet communication.
