By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
If you want to attend a Las Vegas Raiders home game at Allegiant Stadium, you will have to show proof of a COVID-19 vaccination.
“After consultation with Governor Sisolak and other community leaders, this policy ensures that we will be able to operate at full capacity without masks for fully vaccinated fans for the entire season,” Raiders owner Mark Davis said in a media release.
The Raiders will offer the opportunity for fans to receive vaccinations on site at Allegiant Stadium prior to Raiders home games, permitting newly vaccinated fans to enter wearing a mask.
The Raiders already require all full-time employees on the business and football staffs to be vaccinated. Stadium management company ASM and stadium concessionaire Levy also have implemented mandatory vaccinations for all full-time staff at Allegiant Stadium. Only one team, the Atlanta Falcons, has every player immunized against COVID-19. With the Raiders’ new policy, it looks like the Raiders players will join Atlanta as a team with every player vaccinated against the coronavirus.
The Raiders will hold a press conference at 12 Noon Tuesday at Allegiant Stadium to announce details of the program and introduce CLEAR representatives who will discuss the vaccination verification process. Raiders season ticketholders will receive an email with additional information and instructions.
The next Raiders home game is Sept. 13 when the NFL team hosts the Baltimore Ravens for Monday Night Football. The Allegiant Stadium website has already posted the new Raiders fan vaccination policy.
It shouldn’t be a surprise that the Raiders are requiring fans to be immunized in order to attend a home game.
Gov. Steve Sisolak was growing more annoyed that so many people in Nevada are not vaccinated. And many entertainment promoters were already requiring attendees to show proof of a COVID-19 vaccination.
One holdout in Las Vegas will likely be UFC President Dana White and the MMA fight organization based in Las Vegas that puts on fight shows at T-Mobile Arena on the Strip. White does not think people should be required to get vaccinated and believes it’s a personal choice.
Here was Sisolak’s new vaccination policy announced Monday:
LVSportsBiz contacted a spokesman for the WWE SummerSlam event at Allegiant Stadium Saturday to see if the organization will follow suit for its event later this week. We will share WWE’s response to the Raiders COVID vaccination policy.
Will there be some season ticket holders who will refuse to get vaccinated? Likely. They might choose to sell their tickets on the secondary market where they would make a profit or perhaps get a refund.
In Clark County, only 45 percent of the overall population is inoculated against COVID-19 as of Monday.
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