The hype around the Las Vegas Raiders has been steadily increasing over the last few weeks. The move and the new Allegiant Stadium have got the city humming with Raiders buzz.
The buzz has grown in recent weeks with the move becoming official, and number of Las Vegas experts like UFC president Dana White has begun giving their opinions on how it will work out.
White helped reinvigorate the sports scene in Las Vegas with his extremely successful UFC mixed martial arts fights, and now he is all in on the Raiders.
Of course, the Raiders are not the first professional sports team to make it to the desert. The Las Vegas Golden Knights of the NHL stole the hearts of the city in just their first year as a professional club. White knows how much Vegas loves the Knights, and he believes they will go just as crazy for the Raiders, via Eddie Paskal of Raiders.com:
“It’s always been the fight capital of the world and now it’s a massive sports town. You see now with the Golden Knights, I was just saying to somebody in here, when I drive to work everyday, and this is no exaggeration, you know it you’re out there, every single car has either a Golden Knights license plate or a sticker. Once that first kickoff happens, that place is going to go crazy for the Raiders too.”
The fans will be especially in love once they see the new stadium. Although still under construction, it is shaping up to be one of the best in the NFL.
While heading to Las Vegas is exciting, there are still Raider faithful in both the Los Angeles and Oakland areas. Being one of the most storied franchises in sports history makes it all the harder when moving to a new city.
For White, he sees the move to Vegas as a positive for the diehard Raiders fans outside of the city:
“C’mon, listen, if you’re a Raiders fan it makes all the sense in the world. You get to come to Vegas every weekend and watch your team play. It’s a no brainer, you know what I mean? Great dinners, great shopping, nightlife is incredible, and then you go to the Raiders game on Sunday and then shoot right back home, it’s a 45-minute flight. No brainer. This thing should have been in Vegas years ago.”
Certainly many Raiders fans will be making weekly trips to see the Silver and Black hit the field in 2020. With the seemingly countless number of accommodations in the city, it should be easy for any fan to make a weekend trip to see their team play, and putting a good product on the field as the Raiders are trying to do should only make it even easier.
