This offseason has been one of the biggest in Raiders franchise history as not only did they improve the roster in a big way, but they also completed their move from Oakland to Las Vegas, where they will open Allegiant Stadium this season.
Raiders owner Mark Davis deserves a ton of credit for orchestrating the move and the building of the brand-new, state-of-the-art stadium that is expected to be one of the best venues in the world.
He knows he couldn’t have done it alone though, so Davis expressed appreciation to the Las Vegas community for being so welcoming, via Vic Tafur of The Athletic:
“The buzz has been unbelievable,” Davis said in an hour-long sitdown interview on Saturday. “The fans here have just been so welcoming. They are stopping me and thanking us for coming, while I’m trying to thank them for bringing us.”
Davis also gave thanks to the Allegiant Stadium construction workers who have worked extremely hard, even during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, to ensure the stadium is ready to go for the 2020 season:
“It’s a phenomenal feeling,” Davis said. “To get through the trials and tribulations and actually get it done on time. The pride that the workers showed in this building, man, they really did … they loved working on it. Every three months before the pandemic hit, we would serve them a big-ass lunch and go through and thank every one of them. They just had so much pride in building this thing.
“You see them building hotels around here and you don’t see the same enthusiasm about a project. They are the MVPs. I just can’t thank them enough.”
Unfortunately for Davis and the Raiders, their debut season in their new home will likely come without fans in attendance due to the pandemic. Davis even went as far as saying that he won’t be attending games if fans can not.
The future is bright for the Raiders organization though, so hopefully they can get back to the postseason in 2020 and kick off their new era in style.
