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By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
They made sure the silver color painted on the 156-passenger Airbus A319 parked outside Terminal 1 at McCarran International Airport a few miles from the Strip matched the silver on the Las Vegas Raiders helmet.
Summerlin-based Allegiant Air hopes the new Raiders-branded jet with the tail number N328NV ferries thousands of NFL fans from around the country to the indoor stadium that bears its name.
About two years ago, the Raiders and Allegiant announced the stadium naming rights deal. At the time, Raiders owner Mark Davis said it was a 30-year deal. A value on the deal was never publicized, though, as a frame of reference, Las Vegas’s own Caesars Entertainment agreed to a 20-year, $138 million agreement for the New Orleans Saints’ stadium to be called the Caesars Superdome
The 24-year-old airline that focuses on leisure travel seemed like a good corporate partner for the Raiders. Even though the NFL team has not been successful in wins and losses during the past two decades, its Raiders eyepatch mark and team identity still resonate with many nationwide football fans who recall the franchise’s glory years and Super Bowl wins from the 1970s and 1980s.
Not only is Allegiant looking to transport Raiders fans from both Northern and Southern California, the airline is also marketing to the metro regions of the Raiders’ 2021 opponents such as Chicago, Philadelphia and South Florida. Allegiant even created a special flight from metro Baltimore for the Raiders-Ravens Monday Night Football game Sept. 13.
Allegiant put the Raiders plane into service about a week ago and is flying in the fleet as part of the regular schedule in and out of Las Vegas. So it could end up flying to any of the 63 markets Allegiant serves from Las Vegas.
“Although our operations folks may schedule it for visiting city flights surrounding game weekends, it isn’t being scheduled exclusively for that purpose. Many fans even from non-NFL cities may end up flying on it for games as well. One of the things we talked about two years ago with the stadium naming is that many times NFL fan bases stretch beyond the home city. For example, there are a lot of Denver fans who live in Montana, Chicago fans who are in Southern California, etc. Many of those fans would be likely to take a trip to Las Vegas to see their favorite team,” Allegiant’s Hilarie Grey said.
The aircraft is an Airbus A319, 156 passengers.
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LVSportsBiz.com spoke with both Raiders President Dan Ventrelle and Allegiant Air EVP/Chief Marketing Officer Scott DeAngelo to understand how the airline is activating its high-profile stadium naming rights deal.
Here’s DeAngelo:
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Allegiant Air has Raiders game flight and ticket packages. See its website for details. Allegiant, which also sponsors the NHL Vegas Golden Knights, also has a Golden Knights aircraft in its fleet.
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