17th game will bring visit from Mack, Bears
It’s hard to imagine the news getting much better for Raiders owner Mark Davis Tuesday.
Not only did the NFL approve a 17th game on the schedule as expected, but Commissioner Roger Goodell said he expected games to be played before full stadiums after access that was limited or in the case of the Raiders non-existent during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Raiders’ extra opponent will be the Chicago Bears, as teams will alternate from year to year as to whether their additional game is at home or on the road. The Bears game, which includes former Raiders edge rusher Khalil Mack, will be in Las Vegas — one more week of additional gate receipts to what is expected to be a season of sellouts. Davis decreed at the outset of 2020 there would be no fans at games unless all ticket-buyers could attend. He even stayed away from home games himself and attended road games.
As a result, the Raiders lost a season’s worth of ticket revenue at their new home, a year in which they had some $8 million in fines for COVID-19 protocol violations as well as having to finance the daily testing required by all teams to play through a pandemic.
Combined with a $100 billion television rights agreement agreed upon this month to be split between the 32 teams, any issues the Raiders had with cash flow stemming from the Las Vegas move and the effects of the pandemic will evaporate.
Mack played four seasons
with the Raiders and was the NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2016. A contract dispute led to the Raiders trading Mack to the Bears in 2018 after the Raiders hired Jon Gruden as coach.
The Raiders received two first-round draft picks, a sixth-round pick in 2019 and a third-round pick in 2020. Chicago got Mack, a second-round draft pick in 2020 and a conditional selection that turned in to a seventhround selection.
The teams met in London in 2019, with the Raiders winning 24-21.
Here is how the Raiders’
2021 schedule looks while awaiting dates and kickoff times, which will likely be revealed in the coming month:
Home
• Denver Broncos
• Kansas City Chiefs
• Los Angeles Chargers
• Baltimore Ravens
• Cincinnati Bengals
• Miami Dolphins
• Philadelphia Eagles
• Washington Football Team
• Chicago Bears
Away
• Denver Broncos
• Kansas City Chiefs
• Los Angeles Chargers
• Cleveland Browns
• Dallas Cowboys
• Indianapolis Colts
• New York Jets
• Pittsburgh Steelers