Pac-12 championship to get a boost with move to Las Vegas
Utah and Oregon will face off for the Pac-12 championship tonight at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, and if history is any indication, there will be about as many empty seats as fans.
The atmosphere for the game next year could be wildly different.
The conference announced in July that it would hold it’s 2020 and 2021 championship games at the brand new Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. Construction of the $2 billion, 65,000-seat home of the Raiders is scheduled to be completed at the end of July.
“I’ve had a chance to visit the stadium, see the plans as well,” Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott said in July. “It is truly state-of-the-art in every respect.”
The Pac-12 championship game has been at Levi’s Stadium, which has a capacity of 68,500, since 2014. The 2015 game drew 58,476 fans, but attendance fell to 35,134 last year for Washington’s 10-3 win over Utah.
Contact Damon Seiters at dseiters@reviewjournal.com.