Sam Boyd Stadium Sam Boyd Stadium is a football stadium located in Whitney , Nevada , an unincorporated community in the Las Vegas Valley ; the mailing address of the stadium is " Las Vegas " . The stadium is named after Sam Boyd , a major figure in the hotel / casino industry in Las Vegas . The stadium consists of an uncovered horseshoe - shaped single - decked bowl . Temporary seating is occasionally erected in the open north end zone as needed . The stadium is the home of the UNLV football team and the Las Vegas Locomotives of the United Football League , the annual Maaco Bowl Las Vegas each December , and was the former home of the CFL ' s Las Vegas Posse and the XFL ' s Las Vegas Outlaws . The Stadium is also used for high school football championship games , and at times regular - season high school games for Bishop Gorman High School . The final race of the Monster Energy Supercross series is located here every year . Since 2010 , it has hosted the USA Sevens leg of the annual IRB Sevens World Series in the sevens version of rugby union . History . The stadium was completed in 1971 at a cost of $ 3 . 5 million . It was originally known as Las Vegas Stadium . The name was changed to the Las Vegas Silver Bowl in 1978 and then Sam Boyd Silver Bowl in 1984 and finally in April 1994 to Sam Boyd Stadium . The seating capacity was 15 , 000 from 1971 until 1977 . The capacity was raised to 32 , 000 in 1978 and then to 36 , 800 in 1999 . Except from 1999 to 2002 the stadium has had an artificial turf surface . College football . Since December 18 , 1992 , the stadium has been the site of the annual Maaco Bowl Las Vegas , which had been formerly named the Las Vegas Bowl . In recent years , the game has been very well attended . In 2005 , the football team from Brigham Young University made its first postseason appearance since 2001 . Excited BYU fans over - filled the stadium ; the announced attendance for the 2005 game was a record 40 , 053 people . 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 in the Las Vegas Bowl ; attendance was 40 , 712 . In 2008 , BYU made its fourth straight appearance ranked as the # 16 team in the nation and faced off against the Arizona Wildcats who made their first bowl appearance since 1998 . Arizona won the contest , 31 - 21 , and a record 40 , 047 people 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 ) . Other sports events . The stadium has hosted the USA Sevens rugby tournament every February since 2010 . The USA Sevens is the largest rugby tournament in North America , drawing over 64 , 000 fans in 2012 . The tournament brings together 16 national teams from all 6 continents in rugby sevens as part of the IRB Sevens World Series . The USA Sevens debuted in 2004 in Los Angeles , and moved to San Diego in 2007 . A temporary grass pitch is installed for the event each year . It hosted the Las Vegas Posse of the CFL in 1994 and the Las Vegas Outlaws of the XFL in 2001 . In 1999 it hosted the CONCACAF Champions Cup soccer tournament . Sam Boyd Stadium has been the home of the Las Vegas Locomotives of the United Football League since the league commenced play in 2009 . 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 . The Locos have played all of their home games to date at the stadium , however their final two home games of the 2011 UFL season were cancelled when the season was truncated . On August 5 , 2012 , Real Madrid ( Spain ) defeated Santos Laguna ( Mexico ) 2 - 1 in a friendly match played on a temporary grass pitch in Sam Boyd Stadium . The stadium PA announcer told the crowd the paid attendance of over 29 , 000 made it the highest attended soccer match in Nevada history . Sam Boyd Stadium is set to house 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 . Other events . Since 2000 , the stadium has been home to the Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam World Finals Presented by NGK Spark Plugs which will be going into its 14th year of competition . It is also home to the Supercross finale . During the 1990s , The Grateful Dead played 14 shows at the stadium . On October 29 , 2005 , the grounds of the venue were host to the daytime portion of the two - day Vegoose music festival . This festival is an annual event , but ended its run in 2008 .