Warm-ups, Arizona Wildcats vs. BYU Cougars 21, Las Vegas Bowl, Sam Boyd Stadium, Las Vegas, Nevada
Image by Ken Lund
Sam Boyd Stadium, also known by its former name, the Silver Bowl, is a football stadium located in Whitney, in the U.S. state of Nevada, an unincorporated community in the Las Vegas Valley; 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 annual Las Vegas Bowl each December.
The stadium was completed in 1971 at a cost of .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 capacity was 15,000 from 1971 until 1977. The capacity was raised to 32,000 in 1978 and then to 36,800 in 1999. Except from 1999 to 2002 the stadium has had an artificial turf surface.
