Question of the Day - 10 March 2024

We get this question from time to time, prompted by Allegiant Stadium eclipsing the only other stadium that Vegas has ever had.

Although it was renovated as recently as 2015 when a press tower and luxury suites were added, the 53-year-old Sam Boyd Stadium (opened in 1971) was already nearing the end of its lifespan when Allegiant Stadium came along. Also, at only 36,800 seats, it was more than overshadowed by its much bigger and much newer stadium sibling right off the Strip. Las Vegas Review-Journal sportswriter Ron Kantowski used terms like “quaint” to describe the pocket-sized stadium on the marshy outskirts of southeast Las Vegas.
 
But Allegiant didn't just eclipse Sam Boyd; it essentially doomed it to perpetual darkness with the non-compete clause in the overall deal that turned the Oakland Raiders into the Las Vegas Raiders. in other words: no sports and no concerts at Sam Boyd. What else was there? 

“That was the deal among all the parties when the (Allegiant) stadium legislation was drafted,” Applied Analysis economist Jeremy Aguero told Kantowski. “UNLV, I suppose, could certainly keep Sam Boyd open, but it would put in jeopardy the revenues it receives.”
 
The revenue Aguero was referring to is the $3.5 million a year for 10 years the university, which owns the stadium, collects to keep Sam Boyd shuttered.

However, former Las Vegas Events President (and author of our book Rock Vegas) Pat Christenson told the R-J, "The cost of maintaining it and firing it up would make no sense, especially if you're doing smaller-attended events. It also goes counter to the agreement with the Raiders. Every time you try to do something at Boyd, you have to jump through hoops. Anything that’s competitive, anything of substance that will draw fans, is done at Allegiant.” 

One exception was the May 2021 UNLV commencement ceremony, held at Sam Boyd for social-distancing purposes. Another was when the stadium was opened for COVID testing at the height of the omicron surge in January 2022. A one-off series of high-school football games were held there while some Las Vegas football fields were under construction, but that was never repeated.

Assuming UNLV doesn’t demolish Sam Boyd (which seems unlikely), a couple of prospects present themselves for its future.

The first would be selling the land in order for UNLV to buy more acreage closer to campus. Who would buy it? At one time, it was thought that a potential buyer might be a Major League Baseball team. That's probably no longer an option. Perhaps a master-planned-community or industrial developer. 

Boyd Stadium was also mooted as the home field for the Vegas Vipers XFL team, but they wound up playing at Cashman Field for a single season before being disbanded.

So that's where it stands, basically the same place as it's been since Allegiant opened: in the middle of nowhere.