UNLV's Thomas and Mack Center Gets Upgrade

Ray Brewer of the The Las Vegas Sun reported this week that the famous Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas, home of the UNLV Runnin' Rebels basketball team, is undergoing a $72.5 million dollar renovation. This world class facility plays host to more than simply Runnin' Rebel basketball.  Most well known, the Thomas and Mack, "T & M" as Vegas locals would call it, hosts the NBA summer league (among other events).

The Thomas and Mack, however, is not an old facility compared to other college basketball venues across the country. It is just over 30 years old. Yet, in a city where "new is always better", UNLV has ponied up to make their arena the best bet in town.  Moreover, the Thomas and Mack continues to vie to host events as newer facilities continue to be erected around the Las Vegas strip.  Las Vegas is known for its high end, quality venues and the Thomas and Mack Center must be exemplary.

This pays off best for UNLV fans.  With new and upgraded concession stands and more impressively, an "observation area" that will look out to the Las Vegas strip view, the T & M will continue to show its versatility and glitz.  And more important, for UNLV recruits in the future, a modern arena with all of the bells and whistles of Sin City has to be a draw.

Complete with a firework show that comes at the end of every introduction at a Runnin' Rebel home game, the Thomas and Mack Center can reassert itself, again, as one of the top college basketball arenas on the west coast, if not the entire country.  Sure, it's not a field house or a small, cozy venue.  But, the T & M doesn't want to be.  It's a flashy, modern, large venue good for Presidential nominee debates, rodeos, and especially, UNLV Runnin' Rebel basketball.