Raiders fans in Vegas will cheer in Allegiant Stadium
A $1.9 billion stadium being built for the NFL’s Oakland Raiders when the team moves to Las Vegas next year is being named for Allegiant Travel Co., team and company officials said.
The announcement came during a ceremony marking installation of the final steel beam for the roof of the 65,000-seat indoor stadium just off the Las Vegas Strip.
Las Vegas-based Allegiant Travel is the publicly traded corporate parent of Allegiant Air, a lowfare carrier with 55 nonstop routes in the U.S.
Company chairman and chief executive Maury Gallagher said in a statement the facility name will “amplify” the airline’s focus on leisure and vacation travel and its own resort development in Florida.
The Las Vegas ReviewJournal reported in May the company had filed to trademark the name “Allegiant Stadium.”
Terms of the agreement weren’t made public, but experts told the Review-Journal the deal might cost up to $25 million annually in cash and in-kind services.
The Raiders are moving after the upcoming season.
Taxpayers are funding $750 million of the stadium, which will also host UNLV football and the collegiate Las Vegas Bowl game beginning in 2020. RAIDERS DB ANNOUNCES SUSPENSION >> Cornerback Nevin Lawson, signed as a unrestricted free agent in the off-season, announced on Twitter Monday night he will be suspended for the first four games of the season for being in violation of the NFL policy on performance enhancing drugs.
Lawson, 28, signed a oneyear deal with the Raiders on March 20 worth up to $3.05 million and with $1.55 million guaranteed after spending his first five seasons with the Detroit Lions.
A Raiders official said the club had no comment.
On the Raiders’ first depth chart released Monday, Lawson was listed as the No. 3 left cornerback behind Daryl Worley and rookie Trayvon Mullen.. BRADY CAN’T AVOID AGE FACTOR >> Even with a new
contract, Tom Brady faces some uncertainty about his future.
At his age, that’s hard to avoid.
“I’m ready to go this year and that’s really what matters. That’s where my focus is,” Brady said. “It’s a unique situation I’m in. I’m in my 20th year with the same team. I’m 42 years old, so pretty much uncharted territory I think for everybody. I’m going to go out there and do the best I can this year and see what happens.”
Brady agreed to a twoyear, $70 million extension through 2021 that includes an $8 million raise in 2019, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity Sunday because the Patriots hadn’t announced the extension. ESPN, citing an unidentified source, reported that 2020 and 2021 are void years, and that Brady and the Patriots would need to negotiate further on those if he plays beyond this season.
“There’s a lot of guys who have one year left on their contract,” Brady said. “I’ve got one year to go and we’ll see what happens.”
The Patriots are in Michigan this week, holding joint practices with the Lions in preparation for a preseason game at Detroit on Thursday night. Brady turned 42 on Saturday. Fresh off his sixth Super Bowl title, he’s shown little sign of fading at this stage of his career.
He’s said he wants to play until he’s 45. He’d be one year shy of that at the end of the 2021 season.
“You’ve got to take care of your body. I wrote a book on it, literally. I live by it and I think it’s given me pretty good results,” Brady said. “I try to pass it on to the next generation so they don’t have to go on through the same mistakes that I did, but everyone learns different ways. Hopefully, I can be an inspiration.” WATT’S BIKE RIDE COMES WITH TWIST >> J.J. Watt remembers standing outside the Packers’ practice field as a kid, watching Brett Favre through the holes of the chain-link fence. He dreamed of one day being on the other side.
That dream became a reality — sort of — as the Packers welcomed Watt and the Texans to Green Bay for the first of two joint practices before the teams meet in their preseason opener Thursday night.
“I’m very grateful for the reception and the way that they treat me here,” said Watt, a Wisconsin native. “The amount of love and support that they’ve shown me ... it’s pretty cool. I literally dreamt about this as a kid.”
Watt’s dream, however, did not include a broken bicycle seat and a groin injury.
Since the late 1950s, Packers players have ridden children’s bikes to practice during training camp while kids run alongside holding the players’ helmets. It’s a spectacle Watt witnessed as a kid and finally participated in on Monday.
“It was pretty awesome until I broke the bike,” he said.
Watt, a graduate of Pewaukee High School, about 130 miles south of Green Bay, hopped on the bike of 5-year-old Biraj Sadhu.
“He had a (Aaron) Rodgers jersey on, which is fine,” Watt said. “I respect it. I support loyalty.”
After a few pedal churns through the Lambeau Field parking lot, the seat snapped.
“The bike that I was using was not equipped for a 290-pound man, and the seat broke off,” he said. “I’ve purchased a new bike for the boy. I apologize for that.”
Watt received another bike — a much larger one — from teammate DeAndre Hopkins and rode the rest of the way to the practice field.
BROWNS COACHING SPAT >> Cleveland coach Freddie Kitchens fired back at former offensive line coach Bob Wylie, who worked alongside him last season and said over the weekend that Kitchens received too much credit for Cleveland’s second-half turnaround.
“Bob doesn’t wear brown and orange anymore,” Kitchens said. “I had the opportunity to hire Bob. I did not want to.”
During a Saturday interview with CBS Sports Radio, Wylie made stinging remarks about Kitchens, who began 2018 as the Browns’ running backs coach before being promoted to offensive coordinator after eight games and ultimately hired as head coach in January.
Wylie said he found out he was fired while in the hospital recovering from a serious leg injury. He said former quarterbacks coach Ken Zampese — not Kitchens — deserved the credit for rookie QB Baker Mayfield’s emergence in the second half last season.
Wylie added he felt defensive coordinator Gregg Williams may have been a stronger head coaching candidate, and that Kitchens probably got the job because of his close relationship with Mayfield.
Following Monday’s 2-hour practice, Kitchens unloaded on his ex-colleague.
“I know Bob Wylie to be a good person and out of respect to his family, I won’t get into any of that because he’s a father, he’s a husband, he’s a granddad,” Kitchens said. “But I would just say this about that whole situation: Bob knows what happened. Bob knows what was going on, and when he was here, he knew everything about it. Listen, Bob wasn’t under contract. He forgot to tell everybody that.” BRONCOS SCUFFLE >> Emmanuel Sanders and Courtland Sutton, the Denver Broncos’ top two receivers and SMU alumni, got into a heated exchange and scuffle during practice.
Guard Ronald Leary eventually led Sutton, a second-year pro, away from Sanders, a 10-year veteran who’s making his way back from a torn Achilles tendon.