Sam Boyd Stadium

Aerial view, 2014

The stadium was completed on October 23, 1971, at a cost of $3.5 million. Originally known as Las Vegas Stadium, the name was changed to Las Vegas Silver Bowl in 1978, Sam Boyd Silver Bowl in 1984 and Sam Boyd Stadium on April 26, 1994. The seating capacity was 15,000 from 1971 until 1977, raised to 32,000 in 1978 and to 36,800 in 1999.[6] Except from 1999 to 2002, the stadium has had an artificial turf surface.[7] A $1.2 million renovation during the summer of 2015 replaced field turf that hadn't been changed out in more than a decade and was severely worn from usage. Additionally, two rows totaling 860 seats were removed from the east and west sidelines to widen the field and drop Sam Boyd's capacity to 35,500.[1]

In 2011, UNLV began exploring building a new stadium to replace Sam Boyd Stadium.[8] In 2017, it was announced that the Oakland Raiders would move to Las Vegas and a new stadium, Allegiant Stadium began construction. The UNLV Rebels joined the Raiders at the new stadium in 2020.[9]

In 2016, Oakland Raiders owner Mark Davis physically toured the stadium to assess the stadium as a possible temporary home if the team moved to Las Vegas.[10][11] It was suggested that Sam Boyd Stadium could have served as a temporary home for the Raiders should fan support in Oakland fall to levels that could not reasonably be accommodated at the facility (the Los Angeles Chargers came to a similar arrangement and played at the Dignity Health Sports Park, a stadium that is even smaller than Sam Boyd Stadium, while in the 1990s the Tennessee Oilers came to a similar arrangement in Memphis with Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium and Nashville with Vanderbilt Stadium after they left Houston before their new stadium was ready). A fall in fan support in Oakland never occurred and the Raiders later signed a stadium lease for 2018 and after looking at their options a 2019 lease with a 2020 option in Oakland rendering Sam Boyd Stadium not needed by the team.[12] Furthermore, the stadium required renovations in order for it to be sufficient to serve as a temporary home and with the stadium to be abandoned when construction of Allegiant Stadium is completed, the Raiders found that financially impractical and they stayed in Oakland.[13]

On November 23, 2019, the Rebels defeated San Jose State 38–35 in the team's last game at the stadium.[14] On December 21, 2019, the Washington Huskies defeated the Boise State Broncos 38–7 in the last Las Vegas Bowl held at the stadium.

According to various 2019 media reports, UNLV's contract with Allegiant Stadium prohibited the university from holding events at Sam Boyd Stadium after June 30, 2020. However, the university still owns the stadium and is still making it available to renters. The exact future of the stadium remains up in the air, as UNLV officials are considering selling, demolishing or remodeling the stadium for secondary use.

The last scheduled non-football event of the 2019–2020 academic year was a Monster Jam show (that wasn't the World Finals) on March 21–22. This event was postponed for several months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and eventually was canceled.[15][16]

A professional development football league called The Spring League held several exhibition games at Sam Boyd Stadium in March 2020. In July 2020 the league announced plans for a four-team fall season (which would make the league's name a misnomer) in October, 2020 with all games being held at Sam Boyd.[17]

Due to scheduling issues with the Raiders at Allegiant Stadium, UNLV moved its September 5, 2020 home game to Sam Boyd Stadium.[18] That game was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

2008 Las Vegas Bowl

From 1992 through 2019, the stadium was the site of the annual Las Vegas Bowl.[19] In the later years of the bowl game at the stadium, the game was very well attended. In 2005, Brigham Young University made its first postseason appearance since 2001 and excited BYU fans over-filled the stadium; the announced attendance was a record 40,053. The following season, BYU returned to the Las Vegas Bowl as a nationally ranked team. Additional seating was arranged at Sam Boyd Stadium for the 2006 game; the resulting attendance of 44,615 was the largest crowd to watch a team sports event in the history of the state of Nevada. In 2007, BYU made its third straight appearance and attendance was 40,712. BYU made its fourth straight appearance 2008, ranked #16 in the nation and faced off against the Arizona Wildcats who made their first bowl appearance since 1998. Arizona won the contest, 31–21; 40,047 attended the game which featured David Hasselhoff singing the national anthem.[20][21]

Sam Boyd Stadium was also the site of all three Western Athletic Conference title football games (1996–1998),[22] and the Las Vegas All-American Classic postseason all-star game (2004–2006).[23]

Due to restrictions set by their local governments in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the New Mexico and San Jose State programs used the stadium as a temporary home field during the late stages of the 2020 season. The Spartans hosted the 2020 Mountain West Conference Football Championship Game against Boise State in what is the currently the stadium's final scheduled event.

The stadium hosted the Las Vegas Posse of the Canadian Football League in 1994, the Las Vegas Outlaws of the original XFL in 2001 and the Las Vegas Locomotives of the United Football League from 2009 to 2011. On November 27, 2009, the Locomotives played the Florida Tuskers in the 2009 UFL Championship Game at Boyd, which the Locos won 20–17 in overtime.[24] Sam Boyd Stadium was originally announced as the host for the 2019 and 2020 Alliance of American Football championship games,[25] but the former was moved to Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas and the league later folded halfway through its 2019 season.[26] The stadium also hosted The Spring League games in 2020.

Following the 1976 season of the North American Soccer League, the San Diego Jaws decided to relocate and become the Las Vegas Quicksilvers. Despite a roster featuring international superstar Eusébio, the Quicksilvers could only manage an 11–15 record and a 5th-place finish in their division. They averaged an attendance of 7,092 per game. When the 1977 season ended, the franchise opted to move back to San Diego after only one year and became the San Diego Sockers. They were followed by the Las Vegas Seagulls, who played in the American Soccer League. They compiled a record of 7–18–3 in their only season in 1979.[27]

In 1999, the stadium hosted the CONCACAF Champions Cup tournament, which determined the continental champion of North and Central America. The stadium also hosted several Major League Soccer preseason exhibition matches.[28] Spanish superclub Real Madrid defeated Mexico's Santos Laguna 2–1 in a friendly match played on a temporary grass pitch in Sam Boyd Stadium in 2012. The paid attendance was 29,152, which made it the highest attended soccer match in Nevada history.[29]

Sam Boyd Stadium hosted the inaugural Leagues Cup final between clubs of Major League Soccer and Liga MX on September 18, 2019.[30] Cruz Azul won the final, defeating UANL 2–1.

The stadium hosted the USA Sevens rugby tournament every year from 2010 to 2019. The USA Sevens was the largest rugby tournament in North America, drawing over 60,000 fans in 2012. The tournament brought together over 15 national teams from six continents in rugby sevens as part of the World Rugby Sevens Series. The USA Sevens debuted in 2004 in Los Angeles and moved to San Diego in 2007.[5] A temporary grass pitch was installed for the event each year through 2015.[31] The March 2016 event was played on the artificial surface.

In 2010, Sam Boyd Stadium became the host of the Clark County High School Football Coaches Hall of Fame, including a 22 feet by 12 feet wall wrap with vintage photos of the inductees that will be displayed in the Southwest concourse of the stadium.[32]

From 1990 until 2019, the final round of the AMA Supercross Championship was held at the venue.[33] The final race at the stadium in 2020 will be the second to final round. Most of the track is located inside the stadium with extensions taken into the area behind the score board. This event also includes the Davey Coombs Sr. East/West Shootout which was first won by Kevin Windham in 1997. From 2011 until 2019, the Monster Energy Cup was held at the venue.[34] Ryan Villopoto won the inaugural 2011 event as did Marvin Musquin in the 2017 event and Eli Tomac in 2018 event.[35] Adam Cianciarulo won the final event at the stadium in 2019.[36]

From 2000 to 2018, Sam Boyd Stadium hosted the Monster Jam World Finals in late March every year; the annual event has changed to rotating venues each year.

During the 1990s, The Grateful Dead played 14 shows at the stadium.[37] The stadium and grounds hosted the two-day Vegoose music festival from 2005 to 2007.

In April 2018, the Las Vegas Horse Polo Classic was held at the stadium.[38]

In February 2020, five Major League Rugby matches were played at the stadium over 2 weekends.

• List of NCAA Division I FBS football stadiums

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