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UNLV got paid big money to move its game to appease Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford. A few weeks ago, UNLV announced that it was rescheduling their home football game vs. Idaho State from September 13 to August 23 for Las Vegas to host the championship boxing match between Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford at Allegiant Stadium.
“The World Championship Boxing Match is important to Las Vegas, and the impact it will have on tourism is unmatched,” UNLV Director of Athletics Erick Harper said. “Las Vegas is the Sports and Entertainment Capital, and we are a part of this amazing epicenter. As community members and an institution that works closely with many of the city’s great constituents, we felt it was important to request a waiver to show our commitment to the community. We looked at multiple alternatives to make it happen, and moving to Week Zero was the only possibility and also the most logical”
According to Mick Akers of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, TKO World Wide LLC, the parent company of both the UFC and WWE, agreed to pay UNLV’s athletic department $1.75 million for “certain costs and inconvenience associated with rescheduling”.
“TKO Worldwide LLC, the parent company of Las Vegas-based Ultimate Fighting Championship, agreed to pay $1.75 million to the university’s athletic department in exchange for moving the game up three weeks, a document acquired by the Review-Journal revealed.”
“TKO Worldwide has requested that UNLV athletics reschedule the football game to accommodate the (boxing event) and is willing to compensate UNLV athletics for the cost and inconvenience of doing so,” the agreement states.
Ticket sales for Canelo-Crawford have already begun and is already nearly sold out, according to WrestleTix.
Canelo vs Crawford
Sat • Sep 13, 2025 • 3:30 PM
Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas, NVAvailable Tickets: 2,658
Current Setup: 65,808
Tickets Distributed: 63,150📈 +11,353 since the last update (10 days ago)
📅 Days until show: 22
🔢 Total # of seats on map: 67,969
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💰… pic.twitter.com/LwDptjzPW4— WrestleTix (@WrestleTix) August 23, 2025