Oakland Raiders: Four Thoughts On Relocation To Las Vegas

Loyalty of Bay Area fans and Strength of non-Bay Area fans

With this move, Mark Davis is taking many sizable risks, and one of the biggest risks is counting on Raider Nation to be a long-lasting, reliable and consistent presence in Las Vegas.

Without much of a built-in fan base in place, much of the attendance is going to have to be fans traveling from out of state. It’s just a short flight from the Bay Area and Los Angeles, and not too bad of a drive. But week in and week out, the Raiders will need these fans to show up to games to fill the stadium.

It remains to be seen how this will play out, but at least in the early days — the honeymoon phase — things should go smoothly. Corporate sales and groups will also help in the early days of the stadium being open. But after that — after the first few seasons — we’ll have to wait and see what attendance will be like.

Five years from now, or ten years from now, if the Raiders unfortunately return to having a losing record, how will that affect attendance? When the day comes that Derek Carr and Khalil Mack are no longer donning Silver and Black — hopefully many, many years from now — and the Raiders are struggling, will fans fly and drive to watch?

That might be the biggest long-term question that faces this franchise as they move forward. Raider Nation is famously strong, but it’ll be a test to see how strong they really are.

The loyalty of Raider Nation will also be put to the test. Many fans in the area are understandably upset about the team packing up their bags (again), and some have called off their allegiance. But what percentage of the fans will truly jump ship, and actually stick to that? Is it just a vocal minority that will no longer be fans, or is it actually a decent percentage?

And for those fans that are saying they are legitimately done with the Raiders, will they really stick to that? When Derek Carr is slinging touchdown passes to Amari Cooper and Khalil Mack is wreaking havoc on opposing offenses, will they come crawling back to the dark side?

Another question is how many Bay Area fans will make the trip to Las Vegas. Not just once, just to experience it, but on a regular basis. Because the Raiders will need fans to be attending several games a year — not just one.

Raider Nation travels well, and the expectation of the team is that won’t change. But if Raider Nation doesn’t travel well week in and week out, year in and year out, then there goes the home-field advantage. Because surely, plenty of fans of opposing teams will be excited to fly into Vegas for the weekend.