Learfield’s UNLV Sports Properties team has "signed up 20 new sponsors" to bring the roster to "about 100 this past year," according to Alan Snel of LVSPORTSBIZ.com. UNLV Sports Properties GM Dan Dolby said that his team "generated the highest net sales growth year-to-date among Learfield’s 133 universities." New deals include California-based DC Solar, which happened when the Learfield UNLV team "cold called" the company. Dolby said that the five-year pact "hit seven figures." Other recent sponsors include Children’s Hospital of Nevada for a deal "valued at a 'couple hundred' thousand dollars" and artificial grass company Tough Turtle Turf. The deals "can be affordable alternatives for local small companies that cannot afford the more expensive deals at the Golden Knights and Raiders" (LVSPORTSBIZ.com, 11/20).
GRIDIRON PROBLEMS: In Las Vegas, Mark Anderson in a front-page piece noted despite UNLV football "struggling to draw fans and keep interest" in the market, dropping the program "isn’t on UNLV’s radar." School officials are "progressing with construction of the Fertitta Football Complex and the move to join the Raiders" in their new stadium in '20. However, football is a "financial drain on the athletic department with crowds sometimes around 10,000 at the 35,500-seat Sam Boyd Stadium." For FY '16-17, UNLV took in $5.9M in revenue for football, but spent $9.8M. But UNLV AD Desiree Reed-Francois said, “Our whole NCAA governance model is based upon one sport, and that’s football. Our conference affiliation is based upon football. If you look at TV ratings and TV revenue, football is the one that moves the needle" (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 11/20).
