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Raiders Still Draw Their Loyalists As Once-Proud Franchise Tries To Return To Winning Legacy

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By Alan Snel, LVSportsBiz.com Publisher-Writer

It’s a Saturday morning in suburban Henderson and no matter the heat the devoted fans arrived at Raiders training camp in their black jerseys and T-shirts.

Several tables had plenty of foam fingers, ballcaps and rally towels for these Raiders loyalists who have rooted for an NFL franchise that has a grand total of two winning seasons since 2003.

During the past 20 years, the Raiders have won 116 games while losing 206 for a feeble winning percentage of .360.

But despite losing 64 percent of their games during the past two decades, the Raiders are valued at more than $5 billion and enjoys the top ticket revenue in the NFL.

The fans and their little kids came to watch Raiders quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, star defensive player Maxx Crosby, gifted receiver Davante Adams and the rest of the Raiders players work out in the intense Las Vegas Valley heat.

The Raiders are not projected to make the postseason this season in coach Josh McDaniels’ second season. Many are predicting division foes Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers to win the division and a wild card berth, respectively.

Yet, from a business standpoint, the Raiders enjoy sellouts and more than $150 million in annual ticket revenue to lead the NFL. And after moving to Las Vegas and their publicly-subsidized stadium, the team’s corporate partnerships skyrocketed.

The Raiders have three Super Bowl championships and a winning legacy built with colorful characters before the losing set in for the last 20 years. The Raiders rely on that pre-2000 culture

 

 


 

Alan Snel: Alan Snel brings decades of sports-business reporting experience to LVSportsBiz.com. Snel covered the business side of sports for the South Florida (Fort Lauderdale) Sun-Sentinel, the Tampa Tribune and Las Vegas Review-Journal. As a city hall beat reporter, Snel also covered stadium deals in Denver and Seattle. In 2000, Snel launched a sport-business website for FoxSports.com called FoxSportsBiz.com. After reporting sports-business for the RJ, Snel wrote hard-hitting stories on the Raiders stadium for the Desert Companion magazine in Las Vegas and The Nevada Independent. Snel is also one of the top bicycle advocates in the country.
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