UNLV Athletics receives largest donation ever

Tuesday was a huge day for the UNLV Rebels. The athletic department received the largest single donation to its sports programs in school history.

The $10 million gift will go towards the building of a training facility, a state-of-the-art project known as the Fertitta Football Complex.

The donation from the Ferittas comes four months after an anonymous donor pledged $2 million towards the project. At the time that was the largest single gift in UNLV Football history. To date, a total of $16 million has been committed to the construction of the complex, which is expect to cost between $24-26 million. The Fertitta family released a statement following Tuesday’s historic announcement.

"We believe in the future of Rebel Football under Tony Sanchez's leadership and are proud to join others in the community in helping make this vital building block for the program become a reality."

UNLV Athletic Director, Tina Kunzer-Murphy:

"This is a day that will be long remembered at UNLV as it is the day that Rebel Football officially takes the next big step," said UNLV Director of Athletics Tina Kunzer-Murphy. "The lead gift we announced earlier this year got the ball rolling in this community and we have had a lot of people step up in major ways in order to help this program begin to reach its full potential. I thank the Fertittas for their program-changing gift and I know they join me in saying that we need more of the families of Southern Nevada to join the Rebels on this journey. We thought outside of the box when we hired Tony Sanchez as our head coach and everyone is already seeing the outstanding results both on and off the field."

The Fertitta Football Complex will be 73,000 square feet, two levels, and will include an academic center, locker rooms, offices, meeting rooms, strength & conditioning center, media room, training table and nutrition bar, athletic training center and player lounge.