The Oakland Raiders and owner Mark Davis have announced a partnership with Las Vegas area youth groups. In part of the team’s commitment to their new home, they have purchased 1,600 tickets to Las Vegas Aces home games to distribute to youth groups.
The tickets are going to be dispersed across eight Aces home games this season. Some of the organizations receiving tickets will be girls high school basketball teams in the area and local parks and recreation divisions.
In addition to that, some of the Raiders guests will be able to participate in a ball exchange with Aces players. During their July 23 matchup with the Seattle Storm, each Aces player will hand out a basketball to those participating.
“The Vegas Golden Knights and the Las Vegas Aces are our Brothers and Sisters in bringing professional sports to Las Vegas,” Davis said. “The community benefits of professional sports are tremendous. In particular, the women who play for the Las Vegas Aces are great role models for the young women all over Southern Nevada. We are excited to bring hundreds of those young women to see for themselves what can be accomplished through hard work and determination.”
The Raiders have been in the process of moving to Las Vegas since 2017. This charitable gesture will certainly help establish the team as a fixture in the community. According to Sam Gordon of the Las Vegas Journal-Review, Davis already attends nearly ever Aces home game.
The Raiders and Aces are part of a major boom in the Las Vegas sports scene in the last few years. The Las Vegas Golden Knights of the NHL became the first professional sports team in Nevada in 2017. They had instant success, making it to the Stanley Cup Finals in only their first year.
Las Vegas has been great for the Aces as well. After five consecutive losing seasons in San Antonio, the squad packed it up and settled in to the Mandalay Bay Events Center in 2018. After one more losing season, the Aces are currently atop the WNBA’s Western Conference.
The Raiders will share a brand new Las Vegas Stadium with the already established University of Nevada, Las Vegas football team. The Rebels have long dominated the Vegas sports scene as the only thing close to professional football in the area. The new stadium is still under construction and expected to be completed for the 2020 NFL season.
