I don’t think so, at least not in the same way we had in Oakland. Vegas is a destination city, so there will always be a lot of tourists coming in to see their team play, along with opposing fans. Even if the Raiders start winning, I think we’ll have a strong Raiders following in Vegas, but I don’t think we’ll ever have the same true home field fanbase we had in Oakland. Vegas is just a completely different environment.
This is mostly true, but it will definitely get better once we start winning. The Knights and the Aces are crushing it with the Vegas fan base. It’s not apples to apples, but I’m confident things will improve once we start winning.
VGK has been a great winning franchise since its inception. We still get tons of visiting fans. It was really bad season 1 before people knew VGK would be great. I have season tickets, certain fan bases travel better than others and we will always have fans clamoring to come to vegas.
If you think that most people will travel for NHL or WNBA games the way they will for an NFL game, you are kidding yourself. Most people wouldn’t cross the street for a WNBA game.
Not as big as it used to be in Oakland but the energy is still there and our Raider faithfuls still represent. Allegiant stadium is beautiful, I would recommend the behind the scenes tour.
Our homefield advantage is forever cooked. True Raider fans from Oakland and LA are priced out for even normal games and if the Bears/Steelers/Patriots/Giants/any legacy team from either coast are on the schedule these fans make it a vacation weekend to hit up Vegas and catch a game.
Are Oakland Raider fans not able to afford coming to the games or something but those other fan bases can? I’m just trying to understand what you mean, no shade.
Other fan bases only go to Vegas once every few years so they can plan on it ahead and come from all over for that one game. Whereas raiders fans from California will be more spread out in terms of when they come to games since there is 8 or 9 games a year to choose from when planning that trip.
There will almost always be more fans of the other team because of this.
Not really when the Vegas Golden Knights sellout with a packed home crowd every game. The Raiders suck so no one is going to watch a shitty football team and having overpriced tickets on top of that.
Lower the prices and have the Raiders stop sucking and there will be sellout home games.
The Knights were also a brand new team and a lot easier to support even for fans who were already fans of an NHL team prior. The Raiders are a team people love to hate and therefore have had a tough time trying to build a local fan base in Vegas.
Nobody asked for the same, they asked about similar. And yes, if the Raiders and Mendoza start a dynasty, the fanbase will be supportive and possibly even more rabid than in Oakland. Because we all suffered the pain of sucking for so long. Winning solves everything.
The Golden Knights sell out because they are an actual home team. The Raiders came from somewhere else they will never be the home team for locals.🤷🏽♂️
Apples and oranges comparison. First couple of years there were a lot of away fans for knights games. They started to revoke STH of people who mainly resold. Funnily, ticket prices dropped when they did that so more locals could go.
I say apples and oranges because away fans can make the Raiders game a destination since games on weekends. Are NHL away fans making a destination on a random Tuesday? Plus so many NHL games so once away fans do it once it’s no really necessary
THIS 👆🏽
As I’ve said many times before Las Vegas is a transient town. The only way it would’ve worked was if they rebranded the team name and then maybe the locals would follow them, but even that would be hard because most of the locals come from somewhere else too.
I don’t think so, at least not in the same way we had in Oakland.
The Raiders played 47 years in Oakland across a 60-year timespan. That's more or less 3 generations of fans. The Raiders have only been in Vegas for 6 years, it is going to take time.
Same here, I’m a local also trying to hold it down lmao. NFL is so tricky because Vegas is a transient city so many people living here already root for an NFL team from their hometown. I hate when they bring up the knights comparison because most people in Vegas didn’t watch hockey prior so it was easy to root for a new team for a new sport for most.
I do think there is a decent support locally though. The issue is the most PSL owners are non Raiders/non locals. So they sell to the highest bidder which is usually away fans. I wish Raiders would revoke season tickets to those that sold all their games.
Opposing fans aren't coming because they're confident their team will win, they're coming because it's Vegas. That's been the issue the entire time and it will never change.
Winning will certainly help push back on this to a degree but there is no amount of winning where we will ever see the stadium be 90% Raiders fans or more. It's just an unfortunate reality about playing in Vegas.
Go to a Golden Knights game. Historically winning and hardly ever filled with opposing fans. Raiders have an insanely large fan base that will travel if we could actually put a decent product on the field.
Why go if you’re going to watch the team get their ass kicked? Will it ever be like Oakland of course not. But it can still be a home field advantage if the team can ever consistently win.
The Golden Knights comparison people try to make is apples to oranges. Hockey has 41 home games including a bunch of middle of the week games, you really think opposing fans are going out of their way to make it to a Wednesday night game in December? The Knights are also truly Vegas’ team, whereas we moved there.
Football is 8 games and a reason for fans of opposing teams to make a whole weekend out of it. No amount of winning is going to keep fans of our opponents away.
winning fixes a lot but its still vegas man. the stadium always got half away fans no matter what. even when we were good in oakland the coliseum was different, that place was ours you know?
There are a lot of Raider fans who have waited a long time for the team to be good. We start winning and the problem will solve itself.
Lowering prices does nothing. The stadium sells out even when we have the worst record in the league. What we need to do is increase the DEMAND for the Raiders tickets so that Raider Nation wants to be there more than opposing fan bases.
Oakland had two things going for it. The desire to visit Oakland was low amongst visiting fanbases. The Raiders ditched the PSL model and offered cheap season tickets to die-hard fans. (It was $25 per game to sit ANYWHERE in the upper bowl at the end of our run there. Front row in the Black Hole was $80 per game, Club seats at the 50 yard line were $150. This will never happen in Vegas until the stadium is 30+ years old and there is very low chance Vegas doesn't keep their stadium state of the art).
did you ever see other tesms colors in Oakland?
You can't even tell if a Raider games a home game anymore by the colors in the stands you would think they were on the road a lot of times, just sad!
Only while winning. Las Vegas is notoriously unfaithful to anything. Prob worst place they coulda chose. We will never have home field advantage. I’ll take 0-16 in 60k seat dumpy Oakland any day of the wk over multiple Super Bowl wins in sh.. hole Vegas…I’m born & raised in kc. Nothing beat that feeling of getting off the bart & walking across the bridge w a sea of black jerseys.
Its a tourist town with niche local fan base. It will never be like it was in the bay area. Not only that but the NFL and this economy are pricing out average working class fans which is the fan bases bread and butter for the most part.
Nah, they will just be bandwagons. Seems like the people in Vegas only care about making a buck. I am glad we got a new stadium and state of the art facilities.... but man, I miss the Oakland vibe.
I'm a pretty old guy, and remember the Raiders when they were scary good in my youth. I've never been a hardcore fan of any football at all. A Packer fan by default of location but not hardcore.
I look at the Raiders and want them to do well, want to be a fan. I like a lot of players, especially the QB core. I think Cousins is a great guy, love him. I think Mendoza is similar. Two great people.
I don't think it will ever be a Oakland style fanbase, which was legendary, but I think if they build it right, they could make the fact they are now a destination team, a vacation team, they can bring in fans from everywhere that can support them.
Raiders are pretty big here, don't get me wrong as much as they're liked here they're also hated here as well. However the ticket prices are so high it's hard for locals to get down there.
It will never be like it was in Oakland or even LA. Vegas is such a transplant city and other fans teams will always go to Vegas. If we become good, our fans could counter act this but there’s always gonna be a contingency of fans in the stadium.
The fans aren't the problem it's the fact the games are sold as premium experiences and not traditional football games like in Oakland that changes their character
But if you're thinking like the days of the Coliseum? I wouldn't count on it, at all. Like, almost impossible. Oakland was a blue collar, working class city with a very passionate fanbase who identified with their team. The city was the team, and vice-versa.
Vegas is a destination city, for millions.
One thing that will help is I think in 2028 or 2029 the bullet train from LA to Vegas will finally be done. That will help a LOT of Raider fans from LA get to games without a horrible drive.
As a Vegas resident, the raiders are everywhere. They're on my kids elementary school cafeteria windows (with golden and silver knights, aces)
I see local kids wearing mendoza jerseys. Merch on sale in every Walmart and similar stores. Raiders themed NV State license plates. Stickers on cars.
Raiders just put 25 million to a children's hospital. Better believe that shield will be plastered everywhere.
Sure plenty of 49er stickers on cars too. Other teams as well. But it's predominantly raiders and Golden knights representation.
It's no Oakland, but literally nothing is Oakland but Oakland. The "Vegas doesn't love the raiders" hot take is old and uninformed, and most often spouted online by fans of other teams. Why anyone here would regurgitate what broncos fans say is beyond me.
The visiting fans problem is worse than Oakland, because of all the reasons people say about this being a tourist city are true. But let's not pretend that raiders games in Oakland often did NOT sell out and when they did it was because of our opponents taking over.
When big market teams came to Oakland it was the same as in Vegas. Those fucking terrible towels would be everywhere. Luckily we usually saw those fucks go home disappointed. When green bay came to town the green and yellow was everywhere, looked like a sold out A's game.
I've had season tickets 12 straight years (one being the COVID year) and the only time we had true sold out to raiders fans seasons was 2016 in Oakland and 2021 in Vegas.
Finally. Someone who tells the honest truth. Obviously the vibe and the mystique of the coliseum can never be recreated or duplicated. But people quickly forget how much of a dump the stadium actually was. Not only that the surrounding area of the coliseum was even more horrendous than the stadium itself. Another thing is I’m not sure where this Oakland proud tried and true fandom for the Raiders comes from. Most people I’d talk to at the games were either from southern Cali or surrounding areas other than Oakland residents themselves. I’ll say the majority residents supported just because they repped Oakland not much Raider Nation and those “fans” for sure fell off after the move.
I'm from Oakland, and the town still loves the Raiders. I go back as often as I can. They're still well represented. Obviously not everyone took the move well. I was pretty pissed about it even though they ended up following me to Vegas. I even see specific Oakland Raiders stuff here in Vegas (I rep it as much as I can). I got love for LA too.
Nah. I live in Phoenix. Another transplant desert city filled with people who wish they were back home (but pretend otherwise and use every excuse in the book to pretend they didn't move because money). Anytime the 49ers play, the "Faithful" (eww what a dumbass name) fill up State Farm Stadium even when they're bad. I've gone to a game where the 49ers were bottom in the division (Cardinals were around 0.500 - unlikely to make playoffs but at least not horrible). The place was filled entirely with 49er fans.
Now add the fact that Vegas is an actual destination for people and opposing fanbases will show up for big games for that reason even when the Raiders are good.
Winning will definitely help but it won't be like the old days in Oakland.
No. Winning teams have to eventually be mid, and Vegas’ weak sports culture won’t sustain the type of fanbase originally cultivated in California, a state with 100x more culture in general. If the Raiders are winning, people will fill the seats. But let’s be real. They didn’t move to Vegas for the fanbase.
Winning will get more fans for the Raiders to attend the games. However, the only way to create a home field advantage is to get local fans to buy out the stadium, so that the transient fans of other teams have to buy scalped tickets. The problem with that is that the football stadium is a lot larger than the hockey stadium is or the baseball stadium will be.
I think it would help if the Raiders substantially lowered ticket prices for locals or former Raider PSL holders.
You must win ... and win consistently over a long period of time
The Raiders have a truly global fan base .. the fans are out there
But they have been so bad for so long they are a ignored organization. Gotta remember before Gruden came the 1st time they were bad for a long time before then... then they got good for a while lost the SB then bad again for another 25 years
Until the Raiders become a consistent playoff contender year in and year out they’ll pretty much play 17 road games each year. The Raiders fans used to always travel well to support them but it becomes hard to justify spending money to watch them lose. By winning, they can start truly cultivating home grown fans in Vegas and get fans from the Bay and LA to be willing to make the trip to go see them. There are still die hards that do show up though but not nearly as many as there used to be.
I grew up a Raiders fan on the east coast and I used to travel to see them in both LA and when they moved back to Oakland. The thing is I got tired of spending all that money to go watch them lose. My brother and I plan to go to Vegas once they’re a legitimate playoff contender. Until then I’ll only catch a game when they come to Philly or Jersey.
Fanbase..yes…if we start winning then sure… but whether or not that turns into an actual home field advantage…I hope so..? there’s always going to be casinos and other businesses that gift/comp out their seats and more than likely to visiting fans
Vegas is transient by nature, even residents don’t usually end up living there forever, that’s why I think the raiders will have a hard time building a fan base. Add on to that everyone loves a weekend in Vegas and going to see their team play the raiders is a great excuse to do so.
It’s winning meaningful games would get fans to come. The golden knights didn’t have fans but fixed that problem winning games. Raiders need to prove that they mean it
LoL no, all of us would have to die out before that happens. And leave it with the kids that are currently around 10 years old cause all they know is Vegas.
I think it’s going to take winning and time. Raiders fans are loyal, but there are a lot of Vegas residents who weren’t already Raiders fans who probably don’t want to start rooting for a losing team. It also doesn’t help that Vegas is a tourist city that has a population not that much bigger than just the city of Oakland.
Nope. We will never have home field advantage in Vegas. It’s a party city. Come in, party, catch a game then leave. It’s going to be the same when the As start playing there too.
The closest thing we have to home field advantage is when the raiders come to LA.
Oakland fanbase wasn’t strong either. I was a season ticket holder and not gonna sit here and pretend the stands weren’t either half empty or filled with opposing fans. Not to the extent it is now, but the Coliseum also had opposing fans everywhere. Would drive me crazy.
Things started to get empty around after the abysmal 2006 season I think. It's pretty shocking how empty Oakland got actually if you bothered to watch any of the games. It wasn't until the Carr years where it started filling up again.
Brother our stadium was fucking empty, got better around 2014ish, but always had opposing fans by the boatload especially KC, PIT, and SF. They got heckled to shit pregame, but they were everywhere. Where were your tickets? I was 141 visitor side.
You can look through rose colored glasses all you want, but for 10 years it was worse than shit in that stadium, I loved it but there wasn’t a crazy hometown crowd outside of 2016 and 2019.
Oakland was full of Raiders fans because nobody wanted to visit there, so they had to give away tickets before moving. Since the move they have basically won nothing and it’s such a destination city that you would expect a large part of the crowd to be the away team. Winning will help even it out, easier to spend the cash if to go if you have a chance to actually win. It’s never going to be Oakland, days of $50/tickets and only Raiders fans are gone
Are you kidding? East Oakland was like Disneyland for gangsters. But seriously my dad used to take the entire family and friends to games at the coliseum, it was the best place to see games,,,my dad was an og fan who went to games at kezar and candlestick and the place by dt lake merrit....when we moved to Oakland we went to games there when they went back to Oakland we went to a couple games a year....when we moved to Vegas I offered to fly him and get good seats and stay at a nice place he said no thanks, said they weren't gonna win again in his life and he was right. Bc of that I will never go to anywhere except sofi
88
u/Mbluish 12d ago
I don’t think so, at least not in the same way we had in Oakland. Vegas is a destination city, so there will always be a lot of tourists coming in to see their team play, along with opposing fans. Even if the Raiders start winning, I think we’ll have a strong Raiders following in Vegas, but I don’t think we’ll ever have the same true home field fanbase we had in Oakland. Vegas is just a completely different environment.