[Editor’s Note: This post is written by Dapper Dave Kamsler, a Las Vegas and football aficionado extraordinaire.]
One of my favorite times of year to come to Vegas has always been during football season. Coming from the East Coast, it’s so much fun to roll out of bed on Sunday mornings and have games start at 10 a.m., then for Monday Night Football to start at the much more reasonable hour of 5:30 — perfect for having dinner at a sports bar while watching the game.
That’s why it was so exciting when the Raiders moved to town. Now, when I come to town for an NFL weekend, I spend Thursday night and Monday night at a sports bar, but Sundays are spent at Allegiant Stadium.
Key to these weekends is staying at one of the hotels close to the stadium. Parking is scarce and difficult to come by. Several hotels run game-day shuttles to and from the stadium and there’s always Uber and Lyft, but I don’t know what pre- and post-game traffic is like and I have no desire to find out. No, in my book, there’s no other choice but to stay at Excalibur, Luxor, or Mandalay Bay and walk across I-15 right to Allegiant.
From one of these three hotels, you make your way to Mandalay Bay Road, underneath the walkway that connects Luxor to MBay. That walkway is actually the Shoppes at Mandalay Place, so if you see the stairs for the entrance to the Shoppes, you’re in the right place.
From there, it’s a 10- or 15-minute walk across I-15 on Mandalay Bay Road, also known as Hacienda Avenue. Whatever you call it, the road is closed to vehicle traffic on game days and it’s a festive atmosphere as it becomes a Raiders-fans pedestrian mall. What I like to do is watch the first half of the 10 game in the sports book of my hotel (or even better, if it’s one of those weekends, the 6:30 a.m. Europe game!), then start walking over at halftime, arriving at the stadium about an hour before Raiders’ game time.
As with all NFL stadiums, only small clear plastic bags are allowed inside, no purses or backpacks. So you can carry only essentials. The food at the stadium is surprisingly good, with lots of local restaurants represented, such as Pizza Rock. Even the “regular” food, like popcorn, pretzels, and hot dogs, are better than average stadium fare.
After the game, you’ll appreciate walking back to your hotel and heading right up to your room if you choose. If you’re staying elsewhere, you’ll find the postgame taxi lines at Excal-Lux-MB to be enormous. Pro tip: A couple of weeks before your trip, make a reservation for 5:15 at the Public House at Luxor, a great sports bar with better-than-decent food. Watch the first half of the Sunday Night Football game there, and by halftime, you’ll easily grab a cab back to your hotel .
If you’re not in town on the weekend of a home game, you can still check out the stadium on an Allegiant Stadium tour. Tours are available most non-event days, with multiple tours per day. The regular tour is $66 and the “drink and a view” option is $85 (more on that in a moment). Raiders season ticket holders get 20% off of those prices.
If you’re going for a tour, stadium traffic is non-existent on non-event days, so Uber or Lyft is a good option from anywhere. Or drive to the stadium and park in the north lot.
The tour runs about an hour and a half, and you’ll be standing/walking pretty much the entire time, so be prepared and wear comfortable shoes. The guides are very knowledgeable and entertaining and the tour is comprehensive. You get to visit plenty of places that the average person never gets to see — the VIP lounges, Mark Davis’s personal suite, the Raiders’ locker room, and even the field itself.
The tour starts and finishes with a close-up view of the Al Davis Memorial Torch, right in front of the big picture windows overlooking the Strip. Those who purchased the “drink and a view” option can continue their experience with a complimentary beer or cocktail while lounging at the torch-side bar or in the nearby club-level seats overlooking the field. Everyone who takes the tour also gets a 10% discount on purchases at the team store.
Vegas has every reason to be proud of its newest sports facility (if not the product on the field this past season). It’s definitely worth checking out, game day or not.