University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale. Photo by Christian Petersen, Getty Images Sport
Arizona Wildcats athletic director Greg Byrne, in his weekly Wildcat Wednesday e-mail, reinforced the news that “it is a good possibility” that Arizona’s football game at UNLV will be moved to Glendale.
Arizona has been scheduled to play in Las Vegas on Sept. 7, the second game of the season.
The word for the past couple of weeks has been that the schools have been negotiating, and Rebels athletic director Jim Livengood told the Las Vegas Review-Journal last week that he was optimistic a deal would get done.
Livengood — who preceded Byrne as Arizona’s athletic director — announced his retirement Wednesday. Livengood, 68, will step down June 30. His departure isn’t expected to affect the deal to move the football game to University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale.
For UNLV, it makes financial sense, potentially a million dollar payday. For Arizona, it takes a road game and makes it something of a home game, as Byrne continues to emphasize the University of Arizona as a state-wide program.
Arizona recently signed a deal for a three-game series with BYU, starting with a game in Glendale in 2016.