How Will the Raiders Be Received in Las Vegas?

Re the new stadium, how do you think the Raiders will be received by a) the locals, b) local business, and c) tourists? Also, do you see tickets for games being included as comps or sold as part of room/vacation packages?

What’s not to like? Las Vegans will have a football team to call their own, at least for a few years. (The Raiders don’t tend to stay in one place for long periods of time.) Local businesses are certain to see an influx of football-related spending and there will be at least some spike in tourism, whether from fans of visiting teams (who attended the Vegas Golden Knights games in droves) or bereft members of Raider Nation traveling in from northern California.

How much locals take to their new team will depend to a degree on how much tickets cost, to what degree outreach is made to area football fans, the parking challenges, and whether or not the Raiders can win as a Las Vegas team.

The Golden Knights did it the right way, enlisting season-ticket buyers in order to persuade the National Hockey League to put an expansion team in Sin City. That way, they built a fan base from the ground up. Las Vegans felt invested in their team -- even before the events of October 1 linked the team to the tragedy.

The Raiders seem to be operating from a "build it and they will come" philosophy and the jury’s still out on how that will translate into season-ticket sales. Also, the business plan for the Raiders is predicated on one-third of ticket sales being sold to tourists and traveling fans. This presumes that, say, 22,000 Buffalo Bills fans will descend on Las Vegas to see their team. It’s a risky proposition, although it could free up a lot of seats for locals at the last minute if/when the out-of-staters don’t live up to the lofty projections.

Applied Analysis ran the numbers on Raiders-in-Vegas and came up with $620 million in annual economic impact. That includes 450,000 projected new visitors, 708,400 occupied room nights, and 5,982 new permanent jobs at an average wage of $38,500, pumping $22.5 million into local governmental coffers. Las Vegas Sands was an early co-sponsor of the Raiders, dropping out when Raiders' owner Mark Davis proposed terms for moving the team without consulting Sands CEO Sheldon Adelson. Now, MGM Resorts stands most to benefit, as the majority of its Strip hotels are clustered closest to the stadium. The only competitor with a comparably strategic location is Penn National's Tropicana.

As for comping Raiders tickets or selling tickets-with-rooms packages, MGM spokespeople told us, “It’s too early for us to have an answer on this.” After all, the Raiders don’t arrive until the fall of 2019 at the earliest (they'd have to play at Sam Boyd Stadium if they do; the arena isn't scheduled for completion until the beginning of the 2020-2021 season).

Added Boyd Gaming spokesman David Strow, “Raiders games will certainly be a key component of our marketing strategy, but I think it’s still a bit early to go into additional details.” Wynn Resorts, Las Vegas Sands, and Caesars Entertainment failed to respond.

All we can say is it's a cross-your-fingers-and-hope situation. And don’t try shopping for Las Vegas Raiders gear. The NFL won’t permit merchandise sales until the team has actually left Oakland.

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Deke Castleman Aug-17-2018

This in via email

At least one third ,probably half of the ticket sales will be tourists as this is the nature of Las Vegas. 
  When MGM isn't ripping them off, maybe they will actually promote the team.
Not too many "novelties" at this time in LV, 
The LVGK were last year's darlings, let's see if the newness has worn off, especially with the high cost of viewing ice in the desert.
   Maybe Vegas will get it one day, but people don't have to come to the desert for a hundred dollar meal or extravagent entertainment.
  Maybe Vegas's day had come and they just don't realize it.Too bad ,used to be a fun town.
More in the future on "junk odds" and gaming apps, more dire predictions.
How Casinos handle the savy sports gamblers. Doesn't look good.

Aug-17-2018

Fizzle

Vegas isn't like Green Bay or for that matter, Kansas City, where there's nothing to see or do and the presence of an NFL team provides a respite from yawning boredom. The Raiders will be just another of many attractions, and an insanely expensive attraction at that. A ticket+parking+concession food can easily hit $300. And you're fighting 50,000 people to get in and out of the stadium. Whee!!!!
The team will have to be moderately successful (playoffs) to have a chance. After the first season, nobody will want to fight the traffic to go see a 7-9 team. Oh, and I think Vegas residents will, eight Sundays a year, curse the arrival of the team--at least those who live where the traffic will bring everything to a grinding halt. Vegas on a Sunday afternoon already has its arteries clogged. Has anybody even considered how the traffic issues could be mitigated? Do the powers that be even care?

O2bnVegas Aug-17-2018

skin in the game

A critical factor will be the cheerleaders' uniforms.

Also, will weed concessions outsell beer at the stadium?

jeepbeer Aug-17-2018

traffic

how many will try to drive back to LA after that Sunday afternoon game is over?

Roy Furukawa Aug-18-2018

Be Forewarned

Raider games have a LOT more troublemaker fans than most teams too, so expect less savory visitors coming from California. Not that they don't also have some well mannered or well heeled fans, but there's been lots of fights in the seats at Raider games in the past and it's not likely to stop because they're in Las Vegas.

Luke Conerly Aug-21-2018

Raider fan punks

If Las Vegas thought the NBA all-star game brought trouble to Las Vegas, wait until it sees Raider fans.  Before somebody gets "offended", of course not all Raider fans are unsavory.  However, after 35 years of being a San Diego Charger season ticket holder I can say that, by and large, they are the rudest, most violent fan base in the NFL.  Many of them come not to watch and cheer their team, but to rudely engage the other team's fans...many are just looking for a fight. My wife had to stop going to the Charger games after she was accosted by some Raider fans for wearing a Charger jersey (in San Diego!). It got to the point that the tailgating and the game itself became so out of hand that San Diego fans stopped attending when the Raiders were in town. Many of the fans are just thugs and bullys...and they will congregate at casinos after the games spouting their bilge and intimidating any casino patron wearing another teams gear.  So, just wait Las Vegas, you ain't see nothin' yet.

Question of the Day - 17 August 2018

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