Raiders to unveil home in Las Vegas tonight against New Orleans

The Raiders finally have a home to call their own.

After spending almost their entire 60-year existence sharing stadiums that were sometimes old and out of date, the Raiders are set to open their $2 billion palace in the Las Vegas desert.

The Raiders (1-0) will host the New Orleans Saints (1-0) tonight when they get to show off Allegiant Stadium to the world more than three years after getting approval to move from Oakland to Las Vegas.

“It’s got everything you could imagine, and I can’t wait to share it with our fans,” coach Jon Gruden said. “People around the world, entertainers are going to be here. It’s going to be the hot spot. … It’s the coolest place I’ve seen.”

Unfortunately for the fans in Las Vegas who have been waiting for an NFL team and Raiders diehards in the Bay Area and Los Angeles, they’ll have to wait another year to get to see it in person.

With the COVID-19 pandemic making large crowds unsafe and owner Mark Davis insistent that either all the season-ticketholders or none would be allowed in the stadium, the Raiders are playing this season without fans.

“We wish they could experience it with us,” quarterback Derek Carr said. “I’m sure they will be around somewhere. I’m sure there is a certain street or strip that they’ll be on that our fans will be at.”

When the team held its first practice at the new digs last month, Davis read a statement to the players that said that his father’s mantra that the “greatness of the Raiders is in their future” had come to fruition.

“Welcome to the Death Star, where our opponents’ dreams come to die,” Davis said.