Las Vegas is no stranger to tragedy. The scars of our city are an unfortunate reality we have to face every day, every time we look across the skyline of the Las Vegas Strip and every time we make our hurried steps on the way to class. If there’s one thing we’ve learned, it’s that our local sports teams have a tendency to bring people together and heal the scars that can’t always be seen.
The first time tragedy struck, during the Oct. 1 Route 91 shooting, the Vegas Golden Knights were the unifying force this city needed and helped form a true sense of community. Now, it’s happened again with the Dec. 6 shooting on UNLV’s very own campus, and our football team is doing the work. This season is a chance for the Rebels to build community, not just among themselves, but for all those who bleed for the scarlet and gray, current students and alumni alike.
So far this season, the UNLV Rebels have done just that at an unprecedented scale. So many students claimed free tickets from the university for the opening game that on Sept. 5, two days before the game, UNLV Football sent a campus-wide email to the student body, opening up an additional 1,500 seats for students to reserve. In fact, head coach Barry Odom told the press that more than 7,500 students claimed tickets to attend Saturday’s football game.
Since the Rebels have started playing in Allegiant Stadium, attendance has only skyrocketed. In UNLV’s last year at Sam Boyd Stadium, the NCAA reports the average attendance was 19,864 people per game. In their six regular season home games, the Daily Indy reports that UNLV averaged 23,660 fans a game, the largest number since they moved to Allegiant.
UNLV sports provide an immediate opportunity for connection. It’s hard to have a lot in common with more than 32,000 people, especially when they’re all part of a so-called “commuter school,” but UNLV games are a chance for students to bond and connect outside of the everyday grind of lectures and classwork. Clearly, students have been seizing this opportunity with open arms.
As those thousands of UNLV students experienced on Saturday, this camaraderie forms when there is a shared interest in victory for the home team. Paola Sanjines, a freshman at UNLV, agrees. “UNLV football games can be a unifying experience,” Sanjines said. “By giving students free tickets, [UNLV] cultivates community.”
The Wednesday before UNLV’s first home game, coach Odom hosted a pep rally on Pida Plaza, which gave students the chance to mingle and connect over our Rebels.
“The football games really bring the students and UNLV community together to show support for our school,” Reese Ramos, a freshman student at UNLV, contends. She asserts, “UNLV has an amazing football team.”
Ramos is absolutely right. It doesn’t hurt that UNLV football games are fun to watch and that they’ve now won their first three games, the Rebels’ best start in 40 years. UNLV football is back. After the Rebels’ upset victory on the road in Houston, a full-blown routing of the Utah Tech Trailblazers and a nail-biting finish against Kansas, there is no doubt that UNLV has the best football team in the valley. As the Las Vegas Review Journal reported, Saturday’s game marked the program’s most offensive yards in history.
It feels good to be proud of something. UNLV football gives students plenty of that, both on and off the field. Even if sports aren’t your thing, UNLV games of any kind are a great way to get involved with college life and meet new people. UNLV football is doing all of the right things to build a fanbase that cares about their success and whom they can care about right back. Students can grab their free tickets at unlvtickets.com and head to a game because UNLV Athletics is where community is built.
