LAS VEGAS: Mark Davis obtained the stadium of his dreams after relocating to Las Vegas.
He even contributed to the city’s winning bid for Super Bowl LVIII, which was announced in December 2021. You would never guess it? The Raiders’ bitter opponent, the 49ers, and their sworn adversary, the Kansas City Chiefs, will square off at Allegiant Stadium on Sunday.
“I suppose there are good things and bad things,” Davis remarked late on Tuesday night. The unfortunate thing is that one of these teams will win the Super Bowl at our stadium. Positively, one of them isn’t.
The Chiefs are receiving excellent feedback about their training sessions at the Raiders’ ultramodern facility in Henderson, which is close by (all Raiders logos are covered).
Harrison Butker, the Chiefs’ kicker, described it as “really fantastic.” “And seeing a red end zone with ‘Chiefs’ on it will be nice.”
Regarding the 49ers and Chiefs playing in his stadium, Davis is joking. His franchise will gain publicity, so it’s a little price to pay.
Refinanced in part by $750 million in public funds from a hotel tax, Allegiant Stadium is a mainstay on the Las Vegas strip and among the most beautiful stadiums in the NFL. According to Forbes, the franchise’s valuation has soared to $6.2 billion, making it the sixth-highest in the NFL.
In a manner he never experienced in the Bay Area, Davis is living large in a place the Raiders have called home since 2020.The WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces were acquired by Davis from MGM Resorts International in January 2021, and since then, the franchise has won two league titles.
In 2022, Las Vegas played host to the NFL Draft, and worries about allowing gambling at an NFL stadium are now welcomed rather than avoided. He started advocating for a Super Bowl shortly after Allegiant Stadium’s construction got underway in 2017.
Davis is even friendly with the commissioner who referred to Las Vegas as “Sports Town USA” during a Super Bowl game in December, in contrast to his late father. “He thought this would make a fantastic Super Bowl site, so one of his first conversations after receiving relocation approval was, ‘When are we going to get a Super Bowl?'” remarked NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell during his press conference on Monday. “Mark, we have to play a regular season game here first,” I remarked.
With the Raiders, all that’s left to do is construct a winner. Since Davis assumed leadership, things have become difficult.
In his four seasons in Las Vegas, he has had four head coaches: Rich Bisaccia, Josh McDaniels, Jon Gruden, and Antonio Pierce. Gruden quit over a controversy over emails. Even though Bisaccia led the Raiders into the playoffs, he was passed over as interim coach. McDaniels was fired in November after being a complete failure from the start. After McDaniels was fired, Pierce rebuilt the team’s mentality and was just made head coach.
Every game, the Al Davis torch is lit to honor the Raiders, and this year it will happen at the Super Bowl. The three Raiders Super Bowl MVP candidates, running back Marcus Allen (XVII), wide receiver Fred Biletnikoff (XI), and quarterback Jim Plunkett (XV), will light it.
I went looking for Davis to get his opinion.
