Why El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser just purchased 5,000 tickets to an upcoming UTEP football game

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- UTEP won't be back at the Sun Bowl until September 23 when they host UNLV.

As organizers try to push a sold-out crowd at the stadium for that game, El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser is doing his part.

The City of El Paso told ABC-7 that Mayor Leeser used his personal funds to purchase 5,000 tickets to the game. He will give those tickets out to city employees and their families.

Mayor Leeser said this was about supporting UTEP, and he sees it as a way to say thank you to all of the hardworking city employees.

UTEP had a good crowd on hand for the home opener Saturday. For that game, more than 30,000 people were in attendance.