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Story by Alan Snel Photos by Hugh Byrne
They’ve lost so many games over the last two decades that the franchise’s glory days of three Super Bowl titles come off as ancient history.
But there they were, waiting outside Allegiant Stadium in 104-degree blistering heat for doors to open at 4:30 PM so that they could watch the Las Vegas Raiders practice plays and cheer two of the NFL’s biggest stars — defensive end Maxx Crosby and receiver Davante Adams.
The Hacienda Avenue bridge spanning Interstate 15 linking Mandalay Bay hotel-casino with the stadium was closed to cars and open for walkers, so the Raiders were expecting a big crowd — 40,000 fans who can get into the venue for free to see quarterbacks Aidan O’Connell and Gardner Minshew battle for the starting quarterback job.
The number of fans looked to be closer to about 30,000. UPDATE: A Raiders representative appearing before the Las Vegas stadium board the next day Thursday mentioned there were 20,000 people at the practice.
Before the 6 PM practice, coach Antonio Pierce met the media.
He pointed out that with the Raiders game ticket prices, a free practice at Allegiant Stadium might give members of Raider Nation their only chance to see players inside the Raiders-run stadium that opened in 2020.
Pierce took a look at the fans filling the lower bowl, took a stadium mic from a Raiders staffer and screamed, “RAYYYYYYYYYY-DERSSSSSSSSS.”
The crowd loved it. Fans yelled back, parroting the team’s war cry.
Pierce said, “We’re tired of losing.”
Read Pierce’s answer to LVSportsBiz.com’s question about building on the final nine games of 2023:
Raiders home games are the most expensive in the NFL, according to Team Marketing Report, the Chicago-based that tracks fan costs to attend major league sports games.
The average Raiders home ticket was $153.47 in 2021, according to Team Marketing Report’s Fan Cost Index. The average NFL game ticket was $107.05, according to the FCI data. The second-most expensive average ticket was the 49ers at $139.71, while the cheapest average NFL ticket was $82.05 of the Cincinnati Bengals, Team Marketing Report said.
Raiders owner Mark Davis said Raiders tickets are also expensive on the secondary market as many visiting team fans fill seats at Allegiant Stadium.
But Pierce said he wants to end that trend and get the Raiders’ famed “Black Hole” back to its famed national status.
Check out this Raiders fan and his eyes.