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Las Vegas Raiders Have No Home-Field Advantage
Allegiant Stadium should have an amazing home-field advantage for the Las Vegas Raiders. However, it seems to only fill up with opposing fans.
Allegiant Stadium stands as one of the most successful stadium ventures ever undertaken. It has been a huge financial success. It has lined the pockets of Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis and has paid back its investors tenfold. It’s a beautiful wonder in person, and inside it is one of the most comfortable viewing experiences I’ve ever had the fortune of experiencing. The massive torch is a sight to behold in person, and the paintings that adorn the walls all over the stadium absolutely fit the city that the Raiders have migrated to. It makes you feel like the team has a real home-field advantage from the outside.
There are positives. Now it’s time for the reality check: the Raiders’ relocation to Las Vegas has been a failure. It gives me no pleasure to say that. I went to the games at the Oakland Coliseum. In 2017, I was at the great Thursday Night Football clash between Kansas City and Oakland. Michael Crabtree got called for a push-off right in front of my eyes with 2 seconds left, and I thought the entire crowd was going to riot before we won. There was a small section of Chiefs fans, but that was it.
We had the Black Hole and a definitive home-field advantage. The Raiders might not always have been the best since returning to Oakland in 1995, but the one thing everybody knew was it was going to be a fight when you came into Oakland. Opposing fans knew it as well, and tended to stay away or dress up in civilian clothes. When the Raiders were on fire, the Oakland Coliseum was not a place you wanted to play at as an opposing player.
The Black Hole cheering on Former Raiders CB DJ Hayden (25) in Oakland Coliseum – John W. McDonough/Sports Illustrated
By comparison, when I went to the Raiders-Chiefs matchup in 2021 in Las Vegas, I was amazed not just by the sights and the beauty of the palace I was entering. I was stunned by the ocean of red in the stands. The National Anthem was accompanied by hearing “and the home of the Chiefs” as loudly as I would’ve heard it at Arrowhead Stadium. The “Tomahawk Chop” rained down on me so loudly that I was convinced I had entered the Twilight Zone and ended up in Missouri rather than Nevada.
Whenever a “Raiders chant” broke out, it was accompanied by native Vegas fans giving other fans looks as if they were crazy. The group of people in front of me that were wearing Raiders gear had somebody cheering for the Chiefs because Travis Kelce was on one of their fantasy football teams, not exactly what you’d call an ideal home-field advantage for a team that ended up going on a miracle run to the postseason that year.
Chiefs Fans Taking Over Allegiant Stadium – Maddie Washburn/Chiefs.com
It wasn’t just this game, either. Name a home game you can think of where the Raiders have had a decisive home-field advantage in Las Vegas other than the home opener against Baltimore and the week 18 matchup against the Chargers. The answer is there simply hasn’t been any home-field advantage for the Raiders. The fans show up instead when they play games in Los Angeles at Sofi Stadium against the Rams or Chargers.
With the Oakland A’s looking to relocate to Las Vegas to join the Aces, Golden Knights, and the Raiders, it has really opened a lot of eyes to the failure of the Las Vegas Raiders to gather any sort of home-field advantage. Their home stadium is always taken over by opposing fans, something that Mark Davis has had massive issues with.
The lack of success on the field compared to the world champion Aces and Golden Knights has certainly played a massive factor. The Raiders blew a chance to make the playoffs in 2020, made it in 2021, and then missed it again in 2022 despite all the hype surrounding Devante Adams and Chandler Jones joining the team.
During their Week 1 game against the 49ers, it was noted that most of the crowd was compromised of 49ers fans. The same thing happened on New Year’s Day when the 49ers came into Las Vegas from the Bay Area.
Last season, the Raiders had to go to a silent count during a home game against the Denver Broncos, according to center Andre James. That would’ve been unthinkable in either Oakland or their other previous home of Los Angeles. The Las Vegas fans just simply haven’t been there to support the team the way that Mark Davis and others had hoped. The team hasn’t been embraced the way the Golden Knights have. The Golden Knights are noted for their home-field advantage and rabid fan support.
Broncos Fans Cheer on Broncos Wide Receiver Jerry Jeudy(14) in Allegiant Stadium – RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post
Allegiant Stadium is an absolute wonder to visit, albeit the most expensive stadium to view a game at. The average ticket price at Allegiant Stadium in 2022 was $595, according to NBC Sports. The average income of somebody from Oakland who wants to drive out and support the Raiders is $40,040 a year, while the middle class in the state of California is considered somebody who makes around $77,000. To go out of state and support their team, the cost is simply too high.
Mark Davis has managed to raise his net worth by a substantial amount by moving to Las Vegas, so for him, this move has been an absolute win. He even owns the Aces, who just won the WNBA Championship. However, for the Raiders and their fans, this move has left the team sputtering in the desert. One could say this is prophetic that a team that showed no loyalty to Oakland and Los Angeles now resides in a city that has shown no loyalty to them.
