On Monday, October 30, 2023, over 150 UNLV students, faculty, and community members attended the Super Bowl LVIII Panel and Monday Night Football Watch Party event at the Thomas and Mack Strip View Pavilion. The event was hosted in partnership with UNLV Sports Innovation, UNLV Athletics, and the Las Vegas Super Bowl LVIII Host Committee.
The #VegasSuperBall made its first appearance in the morning at the Student Union Courtyard, where students passing by on campus were able to snap a photo, receive free Super Bowl swag and learn about volunteer opportunities with the Host Committee.
During this time, former Super Bowl LVIII Host Committee intern and current UNLV Sports Innovation graduate assistant Coby Carner was interviewed by UNLV’s Studio G.
“In the sports capital of the world that we’re building in Las Vegas, we have to have UNLV at the forefront,” said Carner, who thought of the idea to bring the #VegasSuperBall and Super Bowl themed event to campus when he was an intern for the Host Committee this summer.
In the afternoon, the #VegasSuperBall moved in front of the Thomas & Mack Center, where over 20 past and present Super Bowl LVIII Host Committee interns gathered for a group picture together. This group marked nearly half of all 43 students that have gotten to participate in the Host Committee internship program during the Fall 2022, Spring 2023, Summer 2023, and Fall 2023 cohorts.
Afterwards, the Super Bowl LVIII Panel and Monday Night Football Watch Party event kicked off with UNLV Sports Innovation Chief Operating Officer, Jay Vickers. He started the event by welcoming everyone and sharing a special thank you video to the partners who made the Super Bowl LVIII Host Committee internship program possible. The video surprised the two partners in attendance, which were the Host Committee and United Way of Southern Nevada.
Following Jay’s remarks, United Way of Southern Nevada President & CEO Julian High spoke from his perspective of how the Super Bowl has positively impacted his organization, including initiatives such as the Host Committee internship program and the Vegas Sports Jackpot, benefiting United Way of Southern Nevada and Las Vegas Super Bowl LVIII Host Committee Charities.
The panel event that followed was a wonderful evening of conversation moderated by Punam Mathur, Executive Director of Elaine P. Wynn & Family Foundation. The featured panelists included UNLV Athletic Director, Erick Harper, Host Committee COO, Bill McConnell, LVCVA Senior Director of Sports and Special Events, Lisa Motley, and UNLV Director of Football Player Development and Community Outreach, Hunkie Cooper. The panelists shared their thoughts and perspectives of how the Super Bowl has and will impact the city of Las Vegas. Topics included the LVCVA’s bid to get the Super Bowl, the impact of the Super Bowl on UNLV Athletics and the entire campus community, and what the Host Committee is doing to gear up for the big game.
“The infrastructure that the NFL needs to support, even the football side, the event side, Las Vegas does not have that foundation if not for UNLV,” said Bill McConnell during the panel.
At the conclusion of the panel, Punam asked the panelists and members of the crowd to describe the Super Bowl coming to Las Vegas in one word. Some of the words uttered like “unprecedented”, “spectacular”, and “epic” only begin to scratch the surface for how monumental the Super Bowl will be for the city.
“This is an opportunity to brand the university, not only from a sports perspective but also from an enrollment and admissions perspective with the general student population,” said Erick Harper in an interview with KTNV (Channel 13) Las Vegas.
Afterwards, attendees socialized and ate while watching the Las Vegas Raiders take on the Detroit Lions on Monday Night Football, to which the Raiders lost 26-14 in what would be Josh McDaniels’ final game as Raiders head coach.
UNLV Sports Innovation graduate assistant Coby Carner was interviewed the UNLV Scarlet and Gray Free Press about the event, which was posted on November 6, 2023 in Volume 68, Issue 11 of the newspaper.
“The idea for this event started when I was a summer intern for the Las Vegas Super Bowl LVIII Host Committee,” Carner stated. “I thought about bringing the #VegasSuperBall to campus. That idea quickly turned into a fully-fledged event, with a panel discussion and Raiders watch party. The Host Committee staff listened to my idea and helped me continue refining and developing it into something tangible.”
Carner further described the challenges of planning the event as well. “I think the biggest challenge we faced was that by the time the fall semester began, we had just about two months until the event date. With UNLV Sports Innovation being involved in so many different projects, we weren’t able to fully shift our focus until early October, but it all came together in the end.”
Carner conluded by stating that students will be able to learn more about the history of the Super Bowl coming to Las Vegas and the broader implications of getting involved with the Host Committee, while also understanding how sports plays a role in other professional applications.
Please view the gallery below for highlights of the event.