Why is Las Vegas Obsessed With the Raiders?
Everybody in Las Vegas has a hustle, whether it's an official nine-to-five or what Tyra Banks calls a luxury companion (escort in Vegas language).
And so it was with my previous downstairs neighbor, Marci.
Marci was an 82-year-old woman who lived alone in a two-bedroom apartment. She used the second bedroom as an extra-large closet space, as she only inhabited the main bedroom and living room. There, she would sit in her La-Z-Boy recliner and watch Fox News while she diligently knit… all day.
Eventually, I got curious. What finally broke the silence was seeing how many damn beanies she was making. And the colors: black and silver only.
When asked about her beanie scheme, she smiled and said, “Mijo... All of these beanies are for Raiders fans ordering them so they can wear them for Las Vegas home games.”
I was already amazed at the sheer quantity of hats I’d noticed (not to mention all the times I went to the nearest post office to send her packages), so I asked her price. She replied quickly—$30 for a women's beanie and $40 for men. Most people ordered two.
Think about that: that’s $70 to $80 per package. And there had been a lot of packages.
This retired woman in her 80s was more in tune and aware than I was. She knew about a force I hadn't reckoned with: Raider Nation. The energy has swept through Las Vegas like the newest COVID variant.
Everyone's in love with the Raiders and Allegiant Stadium, so much so that game tickets are among the most expensive in the league. This team isn't even any good! So, what's going on?
My mom broke it down for me over a late breakfast one Sunday morning at The Bagel Cafe. Las Vegas is now on the map as a major sports city like Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, etc. The Super Bowl came to town for the first time in history and brought a whole new wave of opportunities, business, tourism, and interest. New life is flowing into a city that used to be about gambling, gambling, drinking, and gambling.
Leave it to Mom to really put things in perspective (those wise ol’ Jewish girls from New York tend to have that ability).
I still don't care about the latest NFL developments or who beats who in Fantasy Football (which I first thought was some sort of hybrid game born from mixing Final Fantasy and NFL players). And I'm still refusing to go anywhere near the Stadium on game day.
But, I can say that, despite my indifference and absolutely Zoloft-syle lack of care about the NFL, I can admit that I'm enjoying this new burst of Vegas prosperity that's become possible because of the Raiders,
Because I’ve been saying this for about 20 years now: Las Vegas isn’t an actual city; it's just one big suburb. Well, not anymore. Watch out, world. The 702 is officially, as my yenta mother put it, “on the map.”
Bring on the beanies.
And so it was with my previous downstairs neighbor, Marci.
Marci was an 82-year-old woman who lived alone in a two-bedroom apartment. She used the second bedroom as an extra-large closet space, as she only inhabited the main bedroom and living room. There, she would sit in her La-Z-Boy recliner and watch Fox News while she diligently knit… all day.
Eventually, I got curious. What finally broke the silence was seeing how many damn beanies she was making. And the colors: black and silver only.
When asked about her beanie scheme, she smiled and said, “Mijo... All of these beanies are for Raiders fans ordering them so they can wear them for Las Vegas home games.”
I was already amazed at the sheer quantity of hats I’d noticed (not to mention all the times I went to the nearest post office to send her packages), so I asked her price. She replied quickly—$30 for a women's beanie and $40 for men. Most people ordered two.
Think about that: that’s $70 to $80 per package. And there had been a lot of packages.
This retired woman in her 80s was more in tune and aware than I was. She knew about a force I hadn't reckoned with: Raider Nation. The energy has swept through Las Vegas like the newest COVID variant.
Everyone's in love with the Raiders and Allegiant Stadium, so much so that game tickets are among the most expensive in the league. This team isn't even any good! So, what's going on?
My mom broke it down for me over a late breakfast one Sunday morning at The Bagel Cafe. Las Vegas is now on the map as a major sports city like Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, etc. The Super Bowl came to town for the first time in history and brought a whole new wave of opportunities, business, tourism, and interest. New life is flowing into a city that used to be about gambling, gambling, drinking, and gambling.
Leave it to Mom to really put things in perspective (those wise ol’ Jewish girls from New York tend to have that ability).
I still don't care about the latest NFL developments or who beats who in Fantasy Football (which I first thought was some sort of hybrid game born from mixing Final Fantasy and NFL players). And I'm still refusing to go anywhere near the Stadium on game day.
But, I can say that, despite my indifference and absolutely Zoloft-syle lack of care about the NFL, I can admit that I'm enjoying this new burst of Vegas prosperity that's become possible because of the Raiders,
Because I’ve been saying this for about 20 years now: Las Vegas isn’t an actual city; it's just one big suburb. Well, not anymore. Watch out, world. The 702 is officially, as my yenta mother put it, “on the map.”
Bring on the beanies.