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By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
Pregame photos by J. Tyge O’Donnell
The early review on the Raiders’ Allegiant Stadium from the Mexico-USA Gold Cup final — solid venue experience, good atmosphere and great energy from hearing 61,514 people, mask or no mask, screaming and cheering. But transportation and long lines to get in the building and inside the building still need work.
LVSportsBiz.com heard from fans during the Mexico-USA Concacaf championship game who praised the soccer atmosphere, but mentioned logistics like transportation on the local streets outside the domed stadium still need help despite the beefed up police presence and stadium staffing after so many complaints about transportation and parking were aired after the Garth Brooks concert July 10. The Garth event was the first full-capacity spectacle in the stadium, while Sunday’s Gold Cup was the first sold out sports event.
Clark County required masks for all indoor public places, but many ignored the mask protocol during this game. Fans said there was hardly any enforcement of the mask rule.
The atmosphere was impressive as USA’s national team defeated Mexico. 1-0, in extra time for the Gold Cup championship. The tournament brings together teams from North America, Central America and the Caribbean and is played every two years. It was Miles Robinson’s header goal in the 117th minute that gave the U.S. B squad a big upset victory over Mexico’s top national team players. There were many scoring chances in the game for both teams, but only a lone goal was scored after nearly 120 minutes of play.
The Raiders’ first game with fans is scheduled for Aug. 14 when the Seattle Seahawks visit for a preseason game.
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The job of making sure fans and everyone else in Allegiant Stadium complies with Clark County’s mask mandate during today’s Concacaf Gold Cup game was everybody’s job at the venue.
A security worker said ushers, security and stadium workers will politely remind fans about the indoor mask protocol that went into effect in Clark County Friday. But fans told LVSportsBiz.com they did not see much enforcement.
The stadium posted messages on the venue’s scoreboard to wear a face covering.
It was a little weird that the stadium game hosts were advising people to wear masks, but were not wearing face coverings themselves. During the game, the jumbotron screen showed social media selfies with most fans not wearing masks inside the stadium. Maybe they removed their masks for the selfies; who knows?
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The $2 billion stadium project still needs to fine-tune the sound system. It was difficult to understand the words of the pregame stadium host as LVSportsBiz heard echoes in the press box. Others inside the stadium told LVSportsBiz.com they also could not make out what the hosts were saying.
And here’s an early complaint from Simon Keith regarding what he said were three hours of going from traffic at stadium to his club seat.
That was coming to the stadium. This was going home.
The Raiders added more water stations and fan misters and tried to put ride share locations are more convenient spots. It’s obvious this is a work-in-progress that will last into the Raiders home season in the fall.
This might be the best way to get to the stadium if you’re not two hours early.
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Fans are now in Allegiant Stadium, which was sold out for this game in 90 minutes weeks ago. Many Las Vegas Raiders season ticket holders bought Gold Cup tickets for the sole purpose of flipping them on the secondary market to make a profit of hundreds of dollars. One fan said he bought three tickets from the box office Saturday at $380 per ticket.
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The stadium is ready to rock. One of the fans here is MLS Commissioner, who likes Las Vegas and has been to Vegas before. Garber was not doing any media interviews.
Allegiant Stadium has learned from the Garth Brooks concert event on July 10 and there are many more police and parking attendants out on the local streets surrounding the venue. It’s also cooler than the record-breaking 117-degree heat that caused problems at the Garth event three weeks ago.
Here’s a look at the pitch inside the stadium from the press box: