UFL donation might give football teams a 10th game again

Clark County School District football teams might get a 10th game next season after all.

The United Football League, which will have a franchise in Las Vegas this fall in its inaugural season, said it plans to donate $25,000 to the school district June 11 to enable as many as 24 teams to schedule a 10th game.

As part of a plan to cut as much as 15 percent from its athletic budget, the CCSD this year reduced the maximum number of games football teams could play to nine.

Teams had been permitted to play a “Hall of Fame Game,” in which home teams paid $500 and visiting teams $250 to the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association’s Hall of Fame. The school district’s cutback eliminated that option until the UFL stepped in.

“Our league is very interested in providing high school kids with opportunities,” said UFL commissioner Michael Huyghue, who learned of the budget cutbacks through Daren Libonati, a former UNLV football player and director of the Thomas and Mack Center and Sam Boyd Stadium.

“Every game is important, especially for the seniors. We saw this as an opportunity to provide something more to the kids than just tickets to a game.”

Even with the UFL donation, though, teams still might be stuck with nine games.

The NIAA Board of Control will vote on an emergency realignment plan at its June 16 meeting in Reno. Included in the plan is a reduction in the number of maximum games allowed in each sport.

If the board approves the proposal, football teams would be allowed only nine games, eliminating the Hall of Fame Game for all state schools.

“I don’t know that it would be permitted,” NIAA assistant director Donnie Nelson said of a 10th game. “It sounds like a wonderful offer. We have to wait until June to see if it’s approved. There are a lot of questions that still need to be answered.”

The UFL donation would cover the cost of officials, travel and security at the games.

“Teams will still have to pay the $500 or $250, but the UFL will pick up the slack,” Palo Verde coach Darwin Rost said. “We were sent an e-mail today by (CCSD executive director of athletics) Ray Mathis. It appears to be first-come, first-served, whoever gets their paperwork in first.”

Rost, also head of the Southern Nevada Football Coaches Association, said he received calls from 15 coaches Friday about the 10th game. He said Mathis estimated the cost of a game at approximately $2,000. The donation could cover as many as 12 games.

“Everyone has a list of teams they want to play or don’t want to play,” Rost said.

The school district football schedule already is finalized with each team playing nine games. The entire schedule might have to be redone.