State-of-the-art stadium will be empty this season
The Raiders notified season-ticket holders Monday they would be shut out of Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium because of the COVID_19 pandemic.
Fans were told the Raiders “made the difficult decision to play the Las Vegas Raiders 2020 inaugural season at Allegiant Stadium without fans in attendance.”
When asked via text message if the Raiders would reconsider the policy later in the season or in the event of a playoff game pending positive developments in controlling the pandemic, Raiders owner Mark Davis said he has, “No plans to revisit at this time.”
The news isn’t a surprise, given that Davis told The Athletic on July 19 that things appeared to be headed in that direction.
“It’s all or none for me,” Davis said. “Either all the fans are going to be in there or none. … I can’t tell one fan that they can’t go to the inaugural opening game in a stadium that they helped to build through their PSLs. I won’t tell them that they can’t go but the rest of these guys can.”
While the NFL controls protocol for teams, players and coaches during the pandemic, NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said in a recent email that stadium attendance “will be determined on a market-bymarket basis with guidance from public health experts and in accordance with local and state guidelines. This is not a competitive equity consideration so in the event a stadium is not permitted to have fans that does not mean other teams cannot have fans in their stadiums.”
The NFL did vote in early July to tarp off the first eight rows of every stadium to maintain social distancing from the sideline. The measure passed by a 31-1 vote, with Davis as the lone dissenting voter.
“We’re sold out, so we don’t have anywhere to put those 8,000 people,” Davis told The Athletic.
The New England Patriots told their fans in early July that games at Gillette Stadium would be played at 20% capacity (approximately 13,000 out of 66,000 capacity), with fans arranged in blocks to allow for social distancing. Face masks were made a requirement.
Capacity at Allegiant Stadium is 65,000.
When he spoke to reporters by teleconference last week, coach Jon Gruden acknowledged the possibility of having no fans in the stands.
“It’s not going to be an equitable, fair season,” Gruden said. “Some teams are going to be hit hard by this virus. Some teams might not. Some teams might have fans, some teams might have cardboard cutouts.”
It’s a significant blow to the Raiders in terms of revenue, which was expected to skyrocket with a new venue that has already been sold out. According to the Raiders, 8,000 season-ticket holders were from the Bay Area. Teams keep 60 percent of gate receipts and income from home games.
In their final season in the Coliseum, according to Forbes, generated $77 million in stadium revenue from gate receipts, parking and concessions, the lowest figure in the league. Each of the top 10 teams in terms of stadium revenue made at least $174 million last season, with the Dallas Cowboys far and away the leader at $621 million.
DEFENSIVE TACKLE HALL
TRADED >> The Raiders took a calculated gamble when they selected defensive tackle P.J. Hall in the second round of the 2018 draft.
Hall, whom coach Jon Gruden singled out for being overweight in last year’s training camp during a recent teleconference, will be sent packing. NFL Media first reported Hall’s exit Monday morning. Later, according to ESPN and Adam Schefter, it was reported Hall had been traded to the Minnesota Vikings. The tweet was retweeted by Hall.
• Besides Hall’s departure, Raiders who were waived Monday were defensive back Jordan Brown, tight end Paul Butler, kicker Dominik Eberle, long-snapper Liam McCullough and wide receiver Anthony Ratliff-Williams.
Veteran linebacker Marquel Lee was waived injured, and the Raiders had two players go on the COVID-19 reserve/opt out list in defensive back D.J. Killings and defensive end Jeremiah Valoaga.
Killings has spent time on practice squads in Indianapolis and Green Bay but hasn’t played in a game. Valoaga has played 13 games for Detroit and San Francisco.