Sam Boyd Stadium
Encyclopedia
Sam Boyd Stadium is a football
stadium
located in Whitney, Nevada
, an unincorporated community in the Las Vegas
metropolitan area
; 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
.
was 15,000 from 1971 until 1977. The capacity was raised to 32,000 in 1978 and then to 36,800 in 1999.http://www.cstv.com/printable/schools/unlv/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/unlv-m-footbl-boyd.html
It hosted the Las Vegas Posse
of the CFL
in 1994 and the Las Vegas Outlaws
of the XFL
in 2001. It was the site of all three Western Athletic Conference
title football games (1996–1998). In 1999 it hosted the CONCACAF Champions Cup soccer tournament. Except from 1999 to 2002 the stadium has had an artificial turf surface.
Since 2000, the stadium has been home to the Advance Auto Parts
Monster Jam World Finals
which will be going into its 12th year/ Monster Jam World Finals 12. 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.
Since December 18, 1992, the stadium has been the site of the annual 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.
In July 2009, the stadium was announced as the new home of the USA Sevens
, one of the eight stops in the annual IRB Sevens World Series
circuit. The series brings together national teams in rugby sevens
, a version of rugby union
featuring 7 players per side and 7-minute halves (instead of 15 players and 40 minutes), to compete for several trophies of varying prestige. The USA Sevens debuted in 2004 in the Los Angeles
suburb of Carson
, and moved to San Diego in 2007. As part of the contract between the organizers of the USA Sevens and the International Rugby Board
, a temporary grass pitch will be installed for that event each year.
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.
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
stadium
Stadium
A modern stadium is a place or venue for outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit and view the event.)Pausanias noted that for about half a century the only event...
located in Whitney, Nevada
Whitney, Nevada
Whitney is an unincorporated town in Clark County, Nevada, United States. The population was 18,273 at the 2000 census.-Background:...
, an unincorporated community in the Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
metropolitan area
Las Vegas metropolitan area
The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...
; the mailing address of the stadium is "Las Vegas". The stadium is named after Sam Boyd
Sam Boyd
Samuel A. "Sam" Boyd , was a businessman.Born in Enid, Oklahoma, he arrived in Las Vegas, Nevada in 1941 with only $80 in his pocket. He was able to work his way up through the gaming industry by first working as a dealer, then as a pit boss, and as a shift supervisor.Eventually he saved enough...
, 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
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
University of Nevada-Las Vegas is a public, coeducational university located in the Las Vegas suburb of Paradise, Nevada, USA. The campus is located approximately east of the Las Vegas Strip. The institution includes a Shadow Lane Campus, located just east of the University Medical Center of...
football team and the Las Vegas Locomotives
Las Vegas Locomotives
The Las Vegas Locomotives are a professional American football team based in Las Vegas, Nevada who play in the United Football League. The team plays its home games in Sam Boyd Stadium, home field for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Jim Fassel is the franchise's head coach, president, and...
of the United Football League, the annual MAACO Bowl Las Vegas each December, and was the former home of the CFL
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....
's Las Vegas Posse
Las Vegas Posse
The Las Vegas Posse was a Canadian Football League team that played the 1994 season as part of the CFL's short-lived American expansion. The Posse was one of the least successful CFL teams, both on the field and off.-On the field:...
and the XFL
XFL
The XFL was a professional American football league that played for one season in 2001. The league was founded by Vince McMahon, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of WWE...
's Las Vegas Outlaws
Las Vegas Outlaws
The Las Vegas Outlaws were an American football team in the short-lived XFL in the Western Division with the Los Angeles Xtreme, San Francisco Demons and Memphis Maniax...
. 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
USA Sevens
The USA Sevens is an annual rugby sevens tournament held in the United States. A part of the IRB Sevens World Series, it currently takes place on Saturday and Sunday during the second weekend of February...
leg of the annual IRB Sevens World Series
IRB Sevens World Series
The IRB Sevens World Series, known officially as the HSBC Sevens World Series as of the 2010-11 season, through sponsorship from banking group HSBC, and also sometimes called the World Sevens Series, is a series of international rugby union sevens tournaments organised for the first time in the...
in the sevens version
Rugby sevens
Rugby sevens, also known as seven-a-side or VIIs, is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players, instead of the usual 15, with shorter matches. Rugby sevens is administered by the International Rugby Board , the body responsible for rugby union worldwide...
of rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
.
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 capacitySeating capacity
Seating capacity refers to the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, both in terms of the physical space available, and in terms of limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that seats two to a stadium that seats...
was 15,000 from 1971 until 1977. The capacity was raised to 32,000 in 1978 and then to 36,800 in 1999.http://www.cstv.com/printable/schools/unlv/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/unlv-m-footbl-boyd.html
It hosted the Las Vegas Posse
Las Vegas Posse
The Las Vegas Posse was a Canadian Football League team that played the 1994 season as part of the CFL's short-lived American expansion. The Posse was one of the least successful CFL teams, both on the field and off.-On the field:...
of the CFL
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....
in 1994 and the Las Vegas Outlaws
Las Vegas Outlaws
The Las Vegas Outlaws were an American football team in the short-lived XFL in the Western Division with the Los Angeles Xtreme, San Francisco Demons and Memphis Maniax...
of the XFL
XFL
The XFL was a professional American football league that played for one season in 2001. The league was founded by Vince McMahon, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of WWE...
in 2001. It was the site of all three Western Athletic Conference
Western Athletic Conference
The Western Athletic Conference is an American collegiate athletic conference, which was formed on July 27, 1962, making it the sixth oldest of the 11 college athletic conferences currently participating in the NCAA's Division I FBS...
title football games (1996–1998). In 1999 it hosted the CONCACAF Champions Cup soccer tournament. Except from 1999 to 2002 the stadium has had an artificial turf surface.
Since 2000, the stadium has been home to the Advance Auto Parts
Advance Auto Parts
Advance Auto Parts , headquartered in Roanoke, Virginia, is the second-largest retailer of automotive replacement parts and accessories in the United States. AAP was founded in 1932 and had 2008 sales of approx. $5.1B...
Monster Jam World Finals
Monster Jam World Finals
The Monster Jam World Finals is an annual monster truck event held in late March at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas, NV. It is the championship event of the USHRA Monster Jam series. It consists of racing and freestyle segments, and the winner of each is considered the series champion in that...
which will be going into its 12th year/ Monster Jam World Finals 12. It is also home to the Supercross
Supercross
Supercross is a motorcycle racing sport involving off-road motorcycles on an artificially-made dirt tracks consisting of steep jumps and obstacles. Professional supercross contest races are held almost exclusively within professional baseball and football stadiums.-History:Supercross was derived...
finale.
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
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
Vegoose
Vegoose was an annual Halloween music and arts festival that took place in 2005, 2006, and 2007 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Unlike the Bonnaroo Music Festival — put on by the same organizers, Superfly Productions and AC Entertainment — Vegoose does not offer on-site camping...
music festival. This festival is an annual event, but ended its run in 2008.
Since December 18, 1992, the stadium has been the site of the annual Las Vegas Bowl
Las Vegas Bowl
The Maaco Bowl Las Vegas is an NCAA-sanctioned Division I-A post-season college football bowl game that has been played annually at 40,000-seat Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. since 1992. From 1992 to 1996, matchups featured the champion teams from the Big West and Mid-American...
. 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
Arizona Wildcats football
The Arizona Wildcats football team is the football team of the University of Arizona, located in Tucson, Arizona, United States. The team competes in the Pacific-12 Conference at the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision level.-Early years:...
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
David Hasselhoff
David Michael Hasselhoff is an American actor, singer, producer and businessman. He is best known for his lead roles as Michael Knight in the popular 1980s US series Knight Rider and as L.A. County Lifeguard Mitch Buchannon in the series Baywatch...
singing the national anthem.
In July 2009, the stadium was announced as the new home of the USA Sevens
USA Sevens
The USA Sevens is an annual rugby sevens tournament held in the United States. A part of the IRB Sevens World Series, it currently takes place on Saturday and Sunday during the second weekend of February...
, one of the eight stops in the annual IRB Sevens World Series
IRB Sevens World Series
The IRB Sevens World Series, known officially as the HSBC Sevens World Series as of the 2010-11 season, through sponsorship from banking group HSBC, and also sometimes called the World Sevens Series, is a series of international rugby union sevens tournaments organised for the first time in the...
circuit. The series brings together national teams in rugby sevens
Rugby sevens
Rugby sevens, also known as seven-a-side or VIIs, is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players, instead of the usual 15, with shorter matches. Rugby sevens is administered by the International Rugby Board , the body responsible for rugby union worldwide...
, a version of rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
featuring 7 players per side and 7-minute halves (instead of 15 players and 40 minutes), to compete for several trophies of varying prestige. The USA Sevens debuted in 2004 in the Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
suburb of Carson
Carson, California
Carson is a city in Los Angeles County, California. As of the 2010 census, Carson had a total population of 91,714. Located south of downtown Los Angeles and approximately 14 miles away from the Los Angeles International Airport, it is known as a suburb of the city....
, and moved to San Diego in 2007. As part of the contract between the organizers of the USA Sevens and the International Rugby Board
International Rugby Board
The International Rugby Board is the governing body for the sport of rugby union. It was founded in 1886 as the International Rugby Football Board by the unions of Scotland, Wales and Ireland. England refused to join until 1890. The International Rugby Football Board changed its name to the...
, a temporary grass pitch will be installed for that event each year.
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.