Raiders expecting a host of Chiefs fans at Allegiant Stadium on Sunday
Since Allegiant Stadium opened in 2020, it has been one of the hottest tourist destinations for NFL fans, many times at the expense of home field advantage for the Raiders.
Raider fans travel well, but Las Vegas is not a destination opposing fans circle when the schedule comes out.
Historically, few fan bases have invaded Allegiant Stadium more effectively than the Chiefs and Sunday’s game is expected to be more of the same.
No one would have guessed when the schedule was released that the Raiders and Chiefs would both be undefeated after three weeks, and for any Raider fans on the fence about selling their tickets, Raider Nation Radio host ‘JT the Brick’ issued a plea on his flagship radio show this week.
“How bad do you feel if you sold your tickets as a Raider fan and you don’t have your tickets to go to this game? The money means that much to you? How bleeping boring is your life?” JT said on his Raider Nation Radio show this week.
“Boring that you’re not coming to the Kansas City Chiefs Raiders game and you sold your tickets to some dude in red and everyone in your section knows those are your seats. Be better! Be better! Okay? Just be better. And I think we’re going to be better in this game.”
The next day, JT added to his message…
“You know, when you see a Sea of Red or a Sea of Steeler fans, you know that fans put those up and said, ‘Here’s what I’m going to do. The Steelers want my tickets. I’m going to price them, say the ticket is $600. I’m going to price it at $1,200, and if I get it, I’m going to sell it,'” JT said.
“And then all of a sudden, they look on their phone. Three days later, it’s sold. They got $1,200. And they’re like, ‘Oh my God, I can’t believe I got $1,200. I didn’t want to sell it. I wanted to go, but I got $1,200 for it.’ And that’s what people have been doing since the stadium opened. And I understand it. People need money. The economy is weird. For some, the economy is great in Vegas. You got billionaires moving here. You got people worth hundreds of millions of dollars moving to Vegas and building homes in the summit and the ridges and southern highlands who can afford anything.”
“There’s a lot of people here who can’t afford certain things. So there’s a price point for everyone. And I just know what good stadiums look like when they’re packed with your home fans. And this place is going to have a problem until the Raiders win a lot. And when they win a lot, I don’t think it will be a problem anymore.”
Will more Raider fans keep their tickets this year?
As of Saturday evening, the Raiders are 4.5-point underdogs to the Chiefs and that’s the closest point spread between the teams in the Patrick Mahomes era.
In theory, there should be more Raiders fans at this year’s game, but there’s no question there will be plenty of red in the seats.
Vivid seats projected this week that 64 percent of fans at Allegiant Stadium on Sunday will be Raider fans – and that estimation should mean slightly fewer red jerseys at the stadium than in the past.
As of Saturday afternoon, the casinos in Las Vegas have welcomed more than a few Chiefs fans, and the city of Las Vegas is already cashing in on Sunday’s game.
x: @raidersbeat
Not at all surprised selling to spleef fans. Raiders have to pipe in fan noise so why would that be a surprise? I mean tv cameras show some arm wavers not making any noise. The Halloween characters don’t make any noise. There aren’t enough fans that leave a game without a voice like we did collectively in Oakland. Both times they were there. Wave a terrible towel around and get it taken away from you while the security standing at the top of the first level watched.