In Reply to: UNLV is such an obvious choice..Explain why it's not 1 of the 4 today? posted by DeShaun.Xavier.Foster on September 12, 2024 at 18:52:04
Historically fan support for football is not very good. Football recently is getting some attention, but even then it's competing against the Raiders. I've talked to multiple people who have kids who just can't spend the money for Raiders games and said hit one more two UNLV games. Really good home schedule at a fraction of the cost and it's the same stadium. So maybe over time things can grow. I've been here over 30 years and it is very up and down.
Second, basketball really is a shell of what it once was. Even in the 2000's post Tark, UNLV averaged 14k a game. UNLV could possibly piece together competitive teams, but Transfer Portal alone, every year seems like a new team so I think some of the connections is lost. Then they are competing against the Golden Knights who sell out every game so attendance just isn't what it was on a continuous basis.
Funny thing with the Nevada rivalry is it always means way more to people in Reno than it does in Vegas. If Reno wins, they go nuts and Vegas people just kinda think, think Oh Well. Nevada does historically seem to do well in attendance in football and basketball from what I've seen.
As far as the TV market. Even though the population numbers are there, I'm not sure how that would factor in the equation. My initial thought is most people will watch whatever games are relevant to them anyways. I just really don't know how that really works or would factor in if UNLV went to a major conference. I know I'd like to see it for Vegas.
UNLV plays Kansas tonight and the game is now going to be shown on ESPN, so that is a huge plus. Maybe means they are getting some traction. UNLV also plays Syracuse at home on a Friday night. It will be interesting to see how the viewership numbers play out from those two games. That may be something that helps their cause.