Sam Boyd Stadium

"Named after a prominent Las Vegas hotel owner and gaming pioneer, the facility has evolved over the years not only in size (from 15,000 to 32,000 and to 40,000 seats) but in the way it handled event bookings, marketing, and sponsorship opportunities.

Sam Boyd Stadium is home to the UNLV Rebel Football team, the Las Vegas Bowl and the annual AMA Supercross Series Finals and the annual Monster Jam World Finals.

The Grateful Dead played the Sam Boyd Stadium for five consecutive years from 1991 to 1995, all of which have set records for the top grossing and highest attended shows. The band’s final performance in Las Vegas (1995) holds the #1 position, with 125,533 fans attending the concert which grossed over $3.7 million.

Other music superstars who performed at the stadium include the Eagles, Ozzy Osbourne, Metallica, and the Lollapalooza tour. U2 and Paul McCartney kicked off their world tours at the facility, drawing record crowds as well as international media attention.

The stadium celebrated its 25th anniversary in the fall of 1996 by hosting the UNLV vs. Wisconsin football game with 41,091 fans attending the event, setting the record for the state's largest attendance at an outdoor sporting event.

Beginning in the fall of 1998, the Sam Boyd Stadium underwent a major $17.5 million renovation and expansion project, adding 9,000 seats to the stadium and reconfiguring the current seating capacity to 40,000. The improvements included a new concourse, upgraded and expanded restrooms, upgraded concession stands, a new press box, repaved parking lots, upgraded ADA access, and a new scoring system as well as a new playing surface."