UNLV Football Moves Season Opener To Week 0 To Accommodate Canelo-Crawford Fight

UNLV’s home opener against Idaho State will now be played on August 23 at Allegiant Stadium after the NCAA approved a waiver to avoid scheduling conflict with the Canelo vs. Crawford boxing super fight.

Canelo Alvarez (red trunks) and Gennadiy Golovkin (white trunks) box during a super middleweight championship bout at T-Mobile Arena. | Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

Last week, it was announced that the championship boxing match between Terence Crawford and Canelo Alvarez had finally set a venue in Las Vegas. The Super Fight was scheduled to be fought in Allegiant Stadium on September 13th. There was just one major issue with that: it was in direct conflict with the UNLV Rebels football team's home opener against the Idaho State Bengals. Until this past Thursday, we still didn't have a resolution for this issue. However, on Thursday, UNLV athletic director Erick Harper announced the new date and time for the displaced game. The game will now be played in Week 0, on August 23, in Allegiant Stadium.    

UNLV has moved its Sept. 13 home game vs. Idaho State to Saturday, Aug. 23 (Week Zero).

The move allows Allegiant Stadium to host the Canelo Alvarez-Terence Crawford championship boxing match.

— FBSchedules.com (@FBSchedules) June 27, 2025

"The World Championship Boxing Match is important to Las Vegas, and the impact it will have on tourism is unmatched," 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, if a waiver could be approved. I want to thank UNLV President Dr. Chris Heavey, LVCVA CEO and President Steve Hill, and Las Vegas Raiders President Sandra Douglass Morgan, along with the many others who supported UNLV Football through this process, and we look forward to continuing to build great partnerships with the Las Vegas community. We also look forward to our spectacular fans having the opportunity to see the debut of new head coach Dan Mullen at Allegiant Stadium to kick off our season two weeks earlier than expected."

The NCAA approved UNLV's waiver request, which means the Rebels will now open up their season at home in Vegas instead of on the road. This game will be the earliest game that UNLV has ever played, passing the previous mark of August 27 in 2022.