UNLV football helmet in the air at a football game.

UNLV Sports Innovation Institute News

The UNLV Sports Innovation Institute aspires to be a nationally recognized hub that integrates sport science and sport business to provide cutting-edge solutions to unique challenges and drive the future of sport. The institute also aims to be a leader in training the next generation of sport scientists and sport business professionals through interdisciplinary education and research.

Current Sports Innovation Institute News

overview of conference venue with panel speakers on stage
Business and Community |

Co-hosted by the UNLV Sports Innovation Institute, the inaugural SEICon event brings together dozens of sports, entertainment, and innovation leaders — including several with Rebel ties.

students in spring
Campus News |

News highlights starring UNLV students and faculty who made local and national headlines.

Spring Flowers (Becca Schwartz)
Campus News |

A roundup of the top news stories featuring UNLV students and faculty.

The Las Vegas strip as seen on Super Bowl weekend (Josh Hawkins/UNLV).
Campus News |

A collection of news stories and highlights featuring UNLV students and faculty.

Sports Innovation Institute In The News

Syracuse University News

More than 500 people attended the inaugural Sports, Entertainment and Innovation Conference (SEICon) in Las Vegas this summer. The David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics, in collaboration with the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) Sports Innovation Institute and the Las Vegas-based guest experience agency Circle, spent more than a year planning the event, which was held July 15-17 at the Virgin Hotels Las Vegas.

SAToday.news

A little over a decade ago, Las Vegas was little more than a supporting player on the national and international sports scene. Aside from the occasional world championship bout or mixed martial arts event, the city was something of a reserve player in the sports world.

KVVU-TV: Fox 5

Las Vegas is known for major sporting events, world class entertainment and conventions. There’s a conference later this month that is going to combine all three to continue to elevate our city and at the same time to give some UNLV students an opportunity for growth in the field they’ve chosen to go into.

Associated Press

SEICon LLC, a first-of-its-kind conference featuring 120 thought leaders and subject matter experts from the sports, entertainment, and innovation sectors, is pleased to announce USA TODAY Sports as its presenting sponsor in collaboration with UNLV Sports Innovation Institute and Syracuse University’s Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics.

PR Newswire

SEICon LLC, a first-of-its-kind conference featuring 120 thought leaders and subject matter experts from the sports, entertainment, and innovation sectors, is pleased to announce USA TODAY Sports as its presenting sponsor in collaboration with UNLV Sports Innovation Institute and Syracuse University's Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics.

City Cast Las Vegas

On Friday, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority announced an unprecedented new sponsorship program: $100k to each of the Las Vegas Aces players, from superstars to rookies. On the heels of that announcement, however, the WNBA confirmed that it would be investigating this sponsorship deal for possible violation of league rules. But why? Today, executive producer Sonja Cho Swanson talks with professor Nancy Lough, co-director of the UNLV Sports Innovation Institute, about the complicated rules of endorsements, sponsorships, and pay-to-play in pro sports — and how we can get to pay parity for female athletes.

Sports Innovation Institute Experts

An expert on psychiatric and mental health nursing.

Recent Sports Innovation Institute Accomplishments

Vernice Ollano, UNLV alumnae; Tedd Girouard (Kinesiology and Nutrition Sciences); John Mercer (Kinesiology and Nutrition Sciences; UNLV Sports Innovation Institute); and Mehdi Kordi from the United Kingdom published "The use of heated garments as a warm-up for sprint and submaximal effort cycling" in the Journal of Exercise Physiology - On…
Cordero Roche (UNLV Sports Innovation Institute) served as a distinguished panelist at the Las Vegas Lights’ inaugural "Work in Sports Night" held at Cashman Field. During the event, Roche provided valuable insights into his academic background, his extensive experience working with professional sports teams as a Sport Scientist and Strength…
Nancy Lough (Educational Psychology, Leadership, and Higher Education; UNLV Sports Innovation Institute) was featured in episode 10 of the City Cast Las Vegas podcast. In this episode she does a deep dive into the complexities of endorsements, sponsorships, pay-to-play in pro sports, and how we can get to pay parity for women's sports.
Dr. Nate Hollister (Emergency Medicine) and his colleague Scott McDonald (Kinesiology) organized the Circus Meets Medicine conference held at UNLV on March 22, 2024. The conference featured live demonstrations from artists as well as speakers discussing perspectives from elite performers and experts on injury management, biomechanics, and well-…
John Mercer (Kinesiology and Nutrition Science; UNLV Sports Innovation Institute) and Andrew Craig-Jones, a UNLV alum now assistant professor at Augusta University, were the senior and lead author on the paper "The effect of compression garments on biomechanical and physiological factors" in Biomechanics. This paper also was co-authored by James…