By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
No worldwide pandemic or a team with a mediocre won-loss record will get in the way of Raiders fans dressing up on a Saturday evening to pose in front of the NFL franchise’s new palatial Darth Vaderesque stadium in Las Vegas.
There they were, a guy wearing a Jack in the Box-style character head with a Jim Plunkett jersey, a guy in a Hawaiian shirt with flamingos over a Raiders T-shirt while wearing a face mask and a guy in a Charles Woodson number 24 jersey.
Oh, there was also the tyke dressed as Chucky complete with a make-believe headset worn by Raiders coach Jon Gruden.
There was no party or occasion.
It was just an early-May Saturday evening with the sun about 10 minutes from setting. You have to hand it to the Raiders. They rarely make the playoffs these days but their brand loyalty manifests in fans dressing in game-day outfits months before the stadium is scheduled to be occupied.
LVSportsBiz.com visited the 62.5-acre site on the west side of I-15 across from Mandalay Bay to see the latest of a $1.97 billion stadium construction project, which includes the $1.4 billion budget to build the 65,000-seat domed venue. The Southern Nevada public is also contributing $750 million to the stadium’s construction, which is scheduled to be done July 31.
Polaris Avenue, which orders the stadium property on its western edge, was getting re-paved.
The project’s building contractor, the team of Mortsenson and McCarthy, has said seven workers have tested positive for the COVID-19 coronavirus and that workers can volunteer to be tested by the Clark County Health Department.
Here are the latest coronavirus numbers for Nevada as of Saturday.
Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak, who is a big supporter of the Raiders and the public stadium subsidy, loosened stay-at-home restrictions by allowing state residents to engage in outdoor activities such as golf, tennis and pickleball.
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