The prospect of a new Las Vegas football stadium for UNLV represents the school's "vision of someday being bumped up to a top-tier athletic conference that will bring additional notoriety to the university," according to Richard Velotta of the LAS VEGAS REVIEW JOURNAL. UNLV President Len Jessup said that his team has met face to face with the Raiders "'about a half-dozen times' and has had numerous conference calls and in-house conversations about the agreement that will spell out details of the ongoing relationship between the Raiders and the Rebels on access to the stadium and the university’s ability to make it look like a UNLV venue." Meanwhile, the school has already gotten a call from Cal "wanting to develop a home-and-home football series." They "want to be the first opponent UNLV plays once the Rebels move into the stadium" for its '20 football season. Jessup: "They literally want to be the first game in the stadium. We didn’t get those kinds of offers from Pac-12 schools for Sam Boyd Stadium. That’s a function of the new stadium." He added, "That’s just one example where it’s not even built yet and it’s already influencing the way Pac-12 schools are viewing UNLV even without the stadium being here." Jessup said that there were a "number of 'very lengthy' and 'productive discussions' with the Raiders on the joint-use agreement." Jessup: "We’re very close. The process has gone well, it’s been productive" (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL. 11/28).
