By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
In this surreal NFL pandemic season for the Raiders in their first season in Las Vegas, it had ended like it usually does in the last 18 seasons — out of the playoffs.
But this 8-8 season for the Las Vegas Raiders did have some major wins to go along with some mediocre defeats with a high entertainment factor and heart-pounding finishes that determines whether the Raiders would win (Chargers, Jets, Broncos) or lose (Dolphins). On Sunday, the Raiders relied on a Josh Jacobs last-minute touchdown run and a successful two-point conversion pass from quarterback to Derek Carr and to tight end Darren Waller to edge division rival Denver, 32-31, in dramatic fashion.
It was a .500 season that included a sterling 6-2 record on the road, including big victories over the defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs in Kansas City and playoff-bound Browns in Cleveland.
But the flip side was that the Raiders’ palatial new Allegiant Stadium — which did not host a single paid fan — was a home field where the Raiders lost six of eight games despite a big Monday Night Football win over the NFC second-seeded New Orleans Saints in September.
But there was disappointment because the Raiders won six of their first nine games, but lost five of their final seven contests to win as many as they lost in the end and finish outside of the playoffs again despite the NFL adding a seventh playoff team in each conference.
For fans who liked numbers, they saw Waller set a team record for most catches by breaking wide receiver Tim Brown’s team record, Jacobs run for 1,000 yards for his his first two seasons in the NFL, Carr throw for more than 4,000 yards for three straight seasons and placekicker Daniel Carlson set a team record for most points.
On the business side, even with a team that typically doesn’t reach the postseason, the Raiders generated about $550 million in personal seat license revenues for their new domed, 65,000-seat stadium and also scored hundreds of millions of dollars in new corporate stadium sponsorships.
The Raiders did not have fans at their home games so they lost out on revenue there, but most fans rolled over their season ticket deals to the next season so the Raiders will enjoy that financial windfall for the next season.
After the game, Raiders coach Jon Gruden described the roller-coaster season this way: “It will be a huge building block for us. We got mentally tougher. Every day was different. It wasn’t how we wanted to finish (out of the playoffs).”
More Gruden:
Playoff matchups for next weekend: