During a press conference held on Sep 28. UTRGV announced the official partnership with the McAllen International Airport.
The partnership allows McAllen, Texas to be the official airport for the UTRGV Athletics Department.
Unlike other major airports in larger cities, the Rio Grande Valley has multiple airports to fly out from. McAllen City Commissioner District 2 Joaquin Zamora expressed McAllen was eager to take advantage of this opportunity for the university and the community.
“In other metropolitan areas there’s only one major airport and us being a little bit smaller you actually have other choices,” Zamora said. “We saw this and said ‘Hey we want to be on top of this,’ We want to be the most natural, most economical and proximate airport for the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.”
As the UTRGV Athletic department continues to grow. This partnership is another piece of the puzzle for Vaquero Nation. Vice President and Director of Athletics Chasse Conque, discussed how it helps the athletics department and the university as a whole.
“It goes back to everything we are about as an institution,” Conque said. “That’s rallying the valley, building that connection to the institution with our current students, with our former students, our alumni, our faculty staff, our fans, and having that pride, that spirit, that athletics can bring. I think this is an example of knowing that our local airport is all in with UTRGV Athletics but also the university.”
As a part of their publicity campaign, UTRGV Athletics is promoting two giveaways as part of their partnership. The first giveaway is a trip for two to a UTRGV Football road game during the 2025 season.
The giveaway will cover airfare, hotel accommodations, two tickets to the game, and ground transportation. Fans can register for the giveaway at goutrgv.com/MFE.
The second giveaway will be announced at 9 p.m. Oct. 27 at UTRGV Fieldhouse during UTRGV Madness. The giveaway will allow a student to win two tickets to the Western Athletic Conference Basketball Tournament in Las Vegas during spring break.
Senior Communication Major Gabriella Gomez talked about how the giveaways will give UTRGV Athletics more exposure.
“I think it’s going to get more people involved and wanting to watch and keep up with the sports,” Gomez said. “Especially with the women’s sports, I know that I go to volleyball games, but I feel like it would motivate me to go to basketball games.”
For more information visit goutrgv.com
