Raiders’ final home game in Oakland: Good or bad for business?
By John Buhler
The Oakland Raiders will play their final home game in the Bay Area. With them moving to Las Vegas in 2020, will this be good or bad for business?
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It’s very, very sad, but the Oakland Raiders will be playing their final home game at The Coliseum on Sunday afternoon when they host the Jacksonville Jaguars. Hopefully, the Silver and Black can give Raider Nation one last home victory before the team moves to Las Vegas in 2020. But will that move to Southern Nevada be good for business?
On this week’s episode of Stacking the Box, FanSided‘s Matt Verderame and Josh Hill, along with former NFL offensive lineman Geoff Schwartz, reflect on this being the last game in the Bay Area for the Raiders and what to expect when they move to Las Vegas for 2020 (45:20).
All three guys agree that it is sad that the Raiders are leaving Oakland. They have great fans, who followed them when they moved to Los Angeles in the early 1980s and welcomed them back with open arms in the mid-1990s. This team has one playoff season since 2002, now this team is about to leave them again. No fanbase should have to go through this, but here we are.
The reason the Raiders are moving to Las Vegas is pretty simple really: Money. The Coliseum is the worst NFL stadium in the league and the team can’t make money playing games there. By moving to Las Vegas, the Raiders can finally generate in-game revenue and not be at such a competitive disadvantage as they have been for the last few decades. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt.
Verderame has said previously that one advantage the Raiders will have once they move to Las Vegas is that they won’t have a state income tax working against them. Free agents will love to live and play in Las Vegas. This stadium will always be full, but it may not be a home-field advantage for the Silver and Black.
No, it won’t be as bad as it is for the Los Angeles Chargers playing at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, but there will be games where when the Pittsburgh Steelers are in town that the crowd will be 40 percent road supporters. It’s bittersweet to see the Raiders leave Oakland, but the Raiders will finally get the revenue they’ll need to be as competitive as they were in the old days.
Here are a few other topics discussed on this week’s episode of Stacking the Box:
- FanSided 250, Verderame and Schwartz’s interests (0:40)
- Verderame, Schwartz break down bad TLC shows (5:01)
- Who are the real Super Bowl contenders? (52:20)
- What to watch for in Week 15 (54:14)
All this and more!
Next. Will things will get easier for Raiders when they move to Vegas?. dark
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