Sometimes late at night Bobby Florence will stop by the main gaming floor at the Gold Coast where people are wagering money on a new baccarat game called Rabbit’s Play. He’ll get a little twinkle in his eye, as he did when he scored 35 points in one half against Saint Mary’s 40 years ago.
UNLV’s campus stadium initiative culminated Thursday with the stadium board approving resolutions endorsing a venue at the university — someday.
Don’t bury Sam Boyd Stadium quite yet. In fact, University of Nevada, Las Vegas officials need to make some serious decisions about improvements to the often-maligned, 38,600-seat venue that sits in a residential neighborhood about seven miles from campus.
While two arena proposals along the Strip and one in downtown draw most public attention for arenas, UNLV is quietly finalizing details to overhaul the Thomas & Mack Center, a facility that hosts everything from Rebels basketball to sold-out national rodeos to kids shows.
The proposed cost of a new UNLV on-campus 50,000-seat stadium ranges from $490 million for an open-air venue to $632 million for a domed facility and $682 million for a retractable roof stadium, according to a consultant report being presented Thursday to the UNLV stadium board.
