UNLV Rebels football
Who was the occupant of Sam Boyd Stadium from Oct 1973 to Dec 1992?
Sam Boyd Stadium Sam Boyd Stadium ( formerly the Las Vegas Silver Bowl ) is a football stadium in Whitney , Nevada , United States , an unincorporated community in the Las Vegas Valley . It honors Sam Boyd ( 1910–1993 ) , a major figure in the hotel and casino industry in Las Vegas . The stadium consists of an uncovered horseshoe-shaped single-decked bowl , with temporary seating occasionally erected in the open north end zone . The field has a conventional north–south orientation and is at an elevation of above sea level . The stadium was the home of the UNLV Rebels football team from the University of Nevada , Las Vegas from 1971 to 2019 . The Rebels moved to the newly built Allegiant Stadium in 2020 leaving Sam Boyd as the teams secondary facility in the event of conflicts at Allegiant Stadium . The annual Las Vegas Bowl took place at Sam Boyd from December 1992 through December 2019 , but in 2021 and thereafter the game will be at Allegiant Stadium . Sam Boyd was also used for high school football championship games and at times regular-season high school games for Bishop Gorman High School . A long time stop on the AMA Supercross Championship beginning in 1990 , the final race of the season was located at the stadium every year until the upcoming 2020 season when the stadium was moved to the second to last race . From 2010 to 2019 , it hosted the USA Sevens leg of the annual World Rugby Sevens Series in the sevens version of rugby union . Several teams called the stadium home over the years , including the Las Vegas Quicksilvers of the North American Soccer League , the Las Vegas Posse of the Canadian Football League , the Las Vegas Outlaws of the original XFL and the Las Vegas Locomotives of the United Football League . History . 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 . Except from 1999 to 2002 , the stadium has had an artificial turf surface . A $1.2 million renovation during the summer of 2015 replaced field turf that hadnt 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 Boyds capacity to 35,500 . In 2011 , UNLV began exploring building a new stadium to replace Sam Boyd Stadium . 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 . 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 . 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 . 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 . On November 23 , 2019 , the Rebels defeated San Jose State 38–35 in the teams last game at the stadium . 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 , UNLVs 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 wasnt the World Finals ) on March 21–22 . This event was postponed for several months due to the COVID-19 pandemic , and eventually was canceled . 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 leagues name a misnomer ) in October , 2020 with all games being held at Sam Boyd . Due to scheduling issues with the Raiders at Allegiant Stadium , UNLV moved its September 5 , 2020 home game to Sam Boyd Stadium . That game was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic . College football . From 1992 through 2019 , the stadium was the site of the annual Las Vegas Bowl . 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 . Sam Boyd Stadium was also the site of all three Western Athletic Conference title football games ( 1996–1998 ) , and the Las Vegas All-American Classic postseason all-star game ( 2004–2006 ) . 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 currently the stadiums final scheduled event . Professional football . 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 . Sam Boyd Stadium was originally announced as the host for the 2019 and 2020 Alliance of American Football championship games , but the former was moved to Ford Center at The Star in Frisco , Texas and the league later folded halfway through its 2019 season . The stadium also hosted The Spring League games in 2020 . Soccer . 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 in their only season in 1979 . 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 . Spanish superclub Real Madrid defeated Mexicos 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 . Sam Boyd Stadium hosted the inaugural Leagues Cup final between clubs of Major League Soccer and Liga MX on September 18 , 2019 . Cruz Azul won the final , defeating UANL 2–1 . USA Sevens rugby . 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 . A temporary grass pitch was installed for the event each year through 2015 . The March 2016 event was played on the artificial surface . Other events . 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 . From 1990 until 2019 , the final round of the AMA Supercross Championship was held at the venue . 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 . Ryan Villopoto won the inaugural 2011 event as did Marvin Musquin in the 2017 event and Eli Tomac in 2018 event . Adam Cianciarulo won the final event at the stadium in 2019 . 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 . 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 . In February 2020 , five Major League Rugby matches were played at the stadium over 2 weekends . U2 played there from 1992 during their ZooTV Tour and 1997 for the opening night of Popmart .