Frustrated UNLV football fans reveal what keeps them from stadium

By Ron Kantowski

Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2009 | 2 a.m.

If Mike Sanford builds it, will they come?

Well, apparently not if the parking lots aren’t paved.

Last week’s column on the lack of local turnout at UNLV football games generated a lot of lively e-mail discussion, with most of it centered on the dirt parking lots at Sam Boyd Stadium and the difficulty fans encounter while trying to get in and out of Rebels games.

Other than renting John Winger’s EM-50 Urban Assault Vehicle as seen in the movie “Stripes,” there’s basically no way around it: If you drive your car to Rebels games, it will get dirty, and if you drive your car to Rebels games, it may get dinged up in the unpaved (free) general parking lots — that is, if you can ever get out of them.

There is a workaround, however. I discovered it myself this weekend. It made getting in and out of the stadium a snap, although you might have to walk a little bit.

But I’m not telling where I parked, for fear all of you will try it for the BYU game on Oct. 10. And then I’ll get stuck in one of the dirt lots.

Here is a sampling of what the readers wrote:

You ask why nobody goes to the UNLV games? Because the stadium and parking situations are awful. There’s no tailgating atmosphere. Everybody chokes on dust from the passing cars. In the stadium, people yell at you if you stand, and all anyone cares about is the (point) spread.

— hongkongphooey2465

As a loyal follower of the Rebels and a former UNLV player the problem with people attending the games is not the Rebels but the mess getting in and out of the stadium. The limo companies are completely out of control with double parking while the drivers chat on cell phones and super-stretch limo trucks completely block the roadway so you can’t leave the parking lots. There is no reasonable traffic control after the game.

— Crayton Jones

I can tell you the reason that my husband and I didn’t buy season tickets this year. We foolishly assumed that if we purchased season tickets we could park on the pavement instead of the rock-strewn field that UNLV calls a parking lot.

— ackermta

I would like to offer one reason why the Las Vegas community doesn’t embrace Rebel football: The parking. It’s beyond terrible for a team that screams for support.

— sgmccune

As an old soda salesman at the Oaks Ballpark in Emeryville, Calif., home of the 1946 Pacific Coast League Champions Oakland Oaks with Casey Stengel, Jackie Jensen and Billy Martin, people come to a game to see a sporting event — not stand in line for a soda, beer, hot dog or soft pretzel. The problem at UNLV is that at the concession stands “one place serves all” and they are manned by local service clubs.

— mrwonderful98

Why should I pay $50 for tickets, park my nice car in the dirt, pay another $50 for pretzels and beer when I can sit at home on my comfortable sofa and watch the game on a big-screen TV in HD? You gotta love any university that televises its half-empty home games and can’t televise its biggest rivalry road game.

— newyorkrebel

Families hate attending UNLV games because they sell alcohol inside the stadium. Football aside, the crowds in Sam Boyd Stadium are often not family friendly.

— DocRebel

Pave the dirt lot. Charge me $20-$30 for parking to pay for it. I don’t care. I have to spend more than that to get my truck washed after going there, anyway.

— True_Rebel

The crowd for the Oregon State game was sad and embarrassing. The ones who were there were quiet and not rallying around their team.

— debinvegas