“Just Win, Baby” is the famous Raider slogan created by former owner Al Davis. Today that slogan can be modified to “Just Sin, Baby”. The Raiders are singing Viva, Las Vegas, the song made famous by the legendary Elvis Presley. Las Vegas, the entertainment capital of the world, is the talk of the sporting world as the Oakland Raiders were approved for relocation.
For a franchise to be approved for relocation they need 24 votes. The Raiders relocation vote was 31-1, with the Dolphins as the only team to vote against the move. The Raiders will play the 2017 season and most likely the 2018 season, in Oakland while the stadium in Las Vegas is being built. The 2019 season would be the first in Vegas.
Las Vegas has a population of just over 600,000 and is the 30th largest city in the United States. The market is larger than 13 other NFL markets. Vegas will be considered a big market and will attract free agents due to no state income tax.
Sports in Vegas
Recently, the NHL paved the way for a major professional sports league to call Vegas home. Las Vegas was officially awarded an expansion team named the Las Vegas Golden Knights. The inaugural season is set to start later this year in October for the 2017-2018 season. This move by the NHL gave the NFL the confidence and courage to relocate to Las Vegas.
The NBA, NFL, NHL and MLB have never tried to move to Vegas before this year but there have been semi-pro and minor league teams that have competed in Sin City.
Currently, Vegas is home to the minor league baseball team, the Las Vegas 51’s. The 51’s are the Triple-A affiliate of the New York Mets and have been in the Pacific Coast League since 1983. The 51’s had the sixth highest attendance in the PCL with an average of 4,882 and a total of 331,999 fans attended games in 2016.
Throughout Las Vegas’s history, there have been many other leagues to try franchises in Vegas. Most notably, the Arena Football League (Las Vegas Gladiators), the United Football League (Las Vegas Locomotives), the Xtreme Football League (Las Vegas Outlaws), and EHL, minor league hockey, (Las Vegas Wranglers). These teams all left Las Vegas for various reasons but the citizens have always craved professional sports.
Aside from professional sports, Las Vegas is home to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The UNLV Runnin Rebels basketball team has always been a must-see show. Their arena, The Thomas & Mack Center, holds just over 18,000 people and when the Rebels are decent they easily sell it out. In the Tarkanian glory years of the late 80’s and early 90’s it was impossible to get a ticket.
Las Vegas sports fans are blue collar and have been waiting for a team for a long time. Many people supported the teams when they were here and just like any team they are heavily supported when the team is winning. The city of Las Vegas has deserved this for a long time and now the city of sin will have two major professional sports franchises.
Support For the Raiders?
One of the biggest debates happening in the city is how to manage the support of current teams. Fans are asking do I support the Raiders? Do I stop supporting the team I have been rooting for my entire life? Is it okay to support two teams? Should the fans in Oakland continue to support the Raiders? Here are some of what fans have been saying.
@Matthew_Hagan @WhosTreyJones @Lb702 thoughts ? pic.twitter.com/e9VxDpmAea
— Jacob (@Jacob_Hardin) March 27, 2017
@Matthew_Hagan @Jacob_Hardin @WhosTreyJones @Lb702 what if they’re a rival?
— KieferEdwards (@KieferEdwards) March 27, 2017
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@RichEisenShow @richeisen Growing up an Oakland Raiders fan, I now feel compelled to find a new team. Please pick a new team for me.
— Nathan Richards (@ndrichards4) March 28, 2017
Las Vegas Raiders welp..I always said I root for the team not the city so! Happy they get a new stadium long over due! Let’s go @RAIDERS
— Alex•[R N F L]• (@AlexAndersen87) March 28, 2017
@VicTafur any chance Oakland can go the CLE route and keep the #Raiders team brand and let the LV team become something new?
— Falconero (@TheFalconero) March 28, 2017
Las Vegas Raiders: Just Sin, Baby
There is a lot of mixed emotions involved with the Raiders relocation to Las Vegas. Some fans will bleed silver and black and support the Raiders no matter where they are located. Some will have sour grapes and move on to other teams. Fans of other teams who live in Las Vegas will drop their team and become fans of the Raiders and others will stay loyal to the team they have always supported.
Las Vegas has been long known as the city of sin. The city of bright lights where gambling is legal. A city that never sleeps and what happens there stays there.
The Raiders organization has always been known to be brash and in the 70’s did whatever they wanted. They drank, they smoked and they were head hunters. Everybody hated the Raiders and most of the league considered them dirty. The Raiders were the outcasts of the NFL. Everything the Raiders history is and everything the Raiders have been known for is everything Las Vegas is. Sin City and the Raiders are a match made in heaven. Las Vegas Raiders: Just Sin, Baby.
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