UNLV's attempt to net a quick $1 million by moving their home opener against Arizona to University of Phoenix, Stadium fell through. According to the Las Vegas Sun, out going athletic director Jim Livengood announced on Friday that a deal could not be reached to move the game:
"We went through the process with the University of Arizona, Russ Potts Productions and Global Spectrum (which manages the stadium) and everyone was great in trying to make this thing work. We just couldn't get the numbers to match up and in the end everyone agreed it would be best to keep the game here," Livengood said.
Livengood said he was looking close to $1 million, but mentioned a base amount of $750,000 would be acceptable. It seems that the stadium and UNLV could not make the numbers work, and that is perfectly fine. UNLV has not had seven home games at Sam Boyd Stadium in a very long time, if not ever.
Their home slate is very strong with Arizona, San Diego State, San Jose State, Utah State, Central Michigan, Western Illinois and Hawaii. Five of those seven teams made a bowl game last year. Getting wins will be tough, but also getting fans to attend the games is even bigger. Arizona is the biggest draw on the schedule, mainly because they are an above average Pac-12 teams.
While getting nearly a $1 million to move a home opener would benefit the athletic department, but it is better for the program in the long run to play at home as often as possible and not sell their game for a quick buck.