RAIDER NATION
Let’s get started!
Allegiant Stadium is a wondrous, domed stadium in Las Vegas. Allegiant Stadium is the home stadium for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Rebels football team, the Las Vegas Bowl and the Vegas Kickof Classic.
These are today’s facts but let’s go back in time…
The Raiders were founded in Oakland, California in 1960. Their original name was the Oakland Señores! Their 1960 season record was 6 and 8. 1961 was worse 2 and 12! In 1963 ownership hired Al Davis as the team’s head coach and general manager. By1967 the team won the AFC Championship with Daryl Lamonica at quarterback and Jim Otto at center. Davis had implemented a vertical passing strategy which facilitated long throws down the field to stretch opposing defenses. Lamonica had the arm to implement the strategy.
Allegiant Stadium is a wondrous, domed stadium in Las Vegas. Allegiant Stadium is the home stadium for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Rebels football team, the Las Vegas Bowl and the Vegas Kickof Classic.
The Raiders lost the Super Bowl to the Green Bay Packers.RAIDER NATION
Over time, Al Davis took ownership of the team and by 1976 he had full control of the Raiders. He’s also credited for shaping the team’s reputation around the globe. The Raiders motto was also coined by the longtime owner, “Just win, baby!”
Davis hired John Madden as head coach in 1969. Madden continued to improve the team and their winning record over his 10 year tenure including winning the Super Bowl in 1977.
Al Davis was a unique figure in football. Almost everyone had a strong opinion one way or the other about the owner. On the other hand, many feel Davis was never fully credited for his forward thinking. Davis hired Art Shell as the first African American head coach in professional football. He also hired Amy Trask as the first high ranking female chief executive.
Davis had strong opinions on just about everything. Davis didn’t believe in retiring jerseys because he didn’t want to overshadow one Raider player over another. However, 28 Raiders have made it to the Hall of Fame!
Al Davis’ passed away in 2011 and his son Mark took over the team and is the current owner of the Raiders.
The Raiders had been looking at moving the team from Oakland for a decade. The team came close to moving back to Los Angeles (where they played from 1982-1994) but the Chargers won the bid. They eventually closed the deal to move to Las Vegas and build a new stadium.
Once the decision was made on Vegas he retained the same architecture firm that had designed the previously proposed Los Angeles site because Mark was enamored with the overall design.
In April 2016 Mark Davis pledged $500 million toward constructing a proposed $1.4 billion domed stadium. Several overages during construction increased the final budget to $1.97B.
Building Allegiant Stadium was quite a feat. 28,000 tons of structural steel, 12 miles of concrete driller shaft that support Allegiant Stadium, 44 escalators, 75,000 square feet of video boards, the sliding field tray weighs 19 million pounds and is powered by 72 motors!
It is projected that the Allegiant Stadium and Raiders generate $620 million in economic benefit while creating about 6,000 in the Southern Nevada community. Allegiant Stadium will be home to the 2024 Super Bowl.
In addition to sports the Allegiant Arena is a major entertainment hub where Pink, Beyonce, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Taylor Swift and many more. Rapper Ice Cube has written several songs about the Raiders!
For those that haven’t had the opportunity to visit the Allegiant Stadium it’s a short 15-minute walk from the Mandalay Bay, Luxor and Delano.
Folks coming from Downtown Las Vegas or the Strip the RTC’s double-decker Deuce service provides convenient, 24/7 service to get fans to Allegiant Stadium and T-Mobile Arena. Another option is the Hacienda Bridge – the walkway that connects visitors from Las Vegas Boulevard all the way to Allegiant Stadium.
A lot of people wonder why the Raiders seem to be so aligned with gang culture.
The Raiders have a long-standing relationship with gang culture dating back decades through music. Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, and Eazy-E were the forefathers of gangsta rap.
The Raider Nation is the “official” name for Raider fans.
Speaking of Raider fans – they’re some of the most loyal, enthusiastic fans in the NFL. Every home game you can count on thousands of fans visiting from all over California and other states.
If you haven’t checked out the Raider experience at Allegiant Stadium, you’re missing something special in sports.
And don’t forget the myriad of top talent in the music industry performing at Allegiant Stadium throughout the year. There’s no question that Allegiant Stadium has brought a whole new dimension to the Las Vegas experience.
Vegas has come a very long way in bringing excitement and diversity of entertainment to the world. Most feel there’s no other place on earth like the Entertainment Capital of the World!
44 million people a year visit Las Vegas. They get it!
