Officials with ESPN Events, which stages the Las Vegas Bowl, said Wednesday it’s too early in the process to nix the Las Vegas Bowl’s spot in college football’s postseason schedule.
This after Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority president and CEO Steve Hill said Tuesday with the ever-changing College Football Playoff format, low attendance and scheduling issues, the agency’s sponsorship commitment toward the game will be reviewed after this year’s 35th edition takes place on New Year’s Eve.
“The Las Vegas Bowl and Las Vegas Kickoff events continue to hold strategic value for ESPN and the broader college football ecosystem,” ESPN said in a statement. “Given the ongoing discussions in college athletics, it would be premature to assume the Las Vegas Bowl will not have a place in the college football postseason.
“We remain engaged with our partners to ensure these events deliver value and create meaningful opportunities for fans and stakeholders—whether through a postseason bowl game or a kickoff event.”
ESPN Events sees Las Vegas an important and valued market, which is why it has been investing in the city by adding the college football Vegas Kickoff Classic in recent years, according to a company spokesperson.
The Kickoff Classic has been wildly popular, pitting marquee universities — the 2021 event featured BYU and Arizona and the 2024 game with USC facing LSU — drawing an average crowd of 54,214, according to Las Vegas Stadium Authority data. The announced crowd of 63,969 (noted to be an actual crowd of 58,428 by the stadium authority, which only track fans who scanned tickets at stadium gates) that packed Allegiant for USC-LSU marked the largest crowd for a college football game in the state’s history.
Hill said Tuesday the one-year, $1.5 million sponsorship deal for this year’s Las Vegas Bowl, will allow the tourism agency to review the value of the money they put into the game. However, most bowl games this season are operating under one-years deals while the potential for an expanded CFP format is mulled.
Nonetheless, Hill cited low fan turnout, scheduling around holidays and the CFP implications were tied to how they’ll evaluate that, telling the Review-Journal that it was a possibility that the game could end at some point.
The Las Vegas Bowl has averaged just 24,137 over the five years it’s been held at Allegiant Stadium, according to stadium authority data.
Last year’s New Year’s Eve game between Utah and Nebraska saw a much larger crowd than that of the five bowl game average at Allegiant, at 34,269, with 76 percent of those fans coming from out of town.
Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on X.
Future Vegas Kickoff Classic matchups
2027: Miami vs. Utah and North Dakota State versus Montana State
2028: BYU vs. Oregon State
2029: Montana vs. South Dakota State
2030: Texas Tech vs. Arkansas
