Raiders need to get away

Raiders need to get awayThe Raiders recently used the NFL international series game in Mexico as one of their ‘home’ games for the year, sacrificing the supposed home field advantage they experience back in Oakland. They came out victorious in that encounter, beating the Texans.

Now think about the team’s perfect 5-0 record in road games and you’re looking at a Raiders team that travels well and plays well away from home. Why is this significant?

The Raiders games played at Alameda Coliseum lack the same kind of home field advantage that other teams have.

Divisional rivals Broncos and Chiefs both have stadiums that sell out every week and opposing teams never seem to perform quite at their peak because of this, which often sees the Chiefs/Broncos only lose one or two games at home each year.  That doesn’t happen with Raiders games in Oakland.

By moving to Las Vegas there is no doubt that the team would experience the same kind of home field advantage of the top teams based on the excitement and interest from fans for the potential move. This year if the Raiders lose all their remaining road games they will go 5-3, and if you combined that with a 7-1 or even 6-2 home record you would see either an 11 or 12-win team, easily good enough to win the division and possibly book that all important first round bye.

Now the Raiders are starting to win, some people are getting nervous that a move will turn them back into a losing team. But looking at the stats, the opposite is true.  The potential upside of a move to Vegas could well mean the Raiders becoming a league powerhouse for years to come.

Amen to that.

Raiders move to Mexico

mexico-raidersThe Raiders temporarily moved to Mexico, as part of the NFL’s “globalisation” plans, for their week 11 game against the Houston Texans.  Guess nobody told the NFL about the anti-globalisation movement just yet.  Anyway, the trip to Estadio Azteca went relatively smoothly; the American anthem wasn’t booed, free trade seemed to take place and no walls got built.

At 7-2 on the year, the Oakland Raiders were sitting pretty in second place in the AFC West with their eyes set on a first round bye and a home playoff game. By playing on Monday night it gave them a chance to see how their rivals were doing, and spirits were high after the division rivals Kansas City Chiefs lost narrowly and so dropping to 7-3.

The Raiders took their chance and beat the Houston Texans 27-20 in Mexico City, moving to 8-2 and romping to the top of their conference.  Thanks, in part, once again, to Del Rio gambling on a 4th and short in the dying minutes of the game.

The Aztec Stadium is at 7,380 feet, which is about 2,000 feet above the Broncos Mile High venue.  And the smog levels in Mexico City are described by everyone as horrendous.  Thus we can calculate The Raiders are simply harder than their opponents when the going gets tough.

Just Win Baby!

 

Chargers stadium plan rejected

chargers stadium moveThe San Diego Chargers were linked with the Oakland Raiders in a proposed move to Los Angeles (see Are the Raiders Moving?).  That proposed move was outvoted by the NFL membership in favour of The Rams moving back to LA and building a new stadium at Inglewood, leaving both The Raiders and The Chargers to look for new or improved homes elsewhere.

Both teams have been asking local authorities for funds to build new stadia, and have been looking at moves away.  Most notably this entire site is dedicated to the Raiders proposed move to Vegas.

The Chargers hopes of a new, improved stadium in San Diego took a hit early in November 2016 when a ballot called ‘Measure C’, run by the Chargers and questioning 110,000 local inhabitants, failed to get a two-thirds majority.  Indeed, it was defeated 57% to 43%.

This is important for the Raiders because the Chargers were given one year to exercise an option to join the Rams in Inglewood in 2019.  If they do not exercise that option, it transfers to The Raiders.

Vegas Stadium Survey

Raiders Survey

The Raiders have sent out emails to at least a section of their fan base in an effort to determine demand for the new multi-purpose stadium in Las Vegas.

The wording goes “As a valued member of Raider Nation, you are invited, and encouraged, to participate in a survey regarding the potential stadium project. The survey is intended to help the Raiders understand your opinion and potential interest in the project. ”

If you have received such an email, we would strongly like to encourage you to take the survey.  It will take about 10 minutes, doesn’t try to sell you anything, and everything you reply-to will be treated confidentially.

The start and end of the survey ask some general information like what sports you are interested in and who you support (Duh! as a member of Raider Nation!) And the end asks about how likely you are to attend games.  But the majority of the survey is about possible seat locations, the pricing of those seats to watch the Vegas Raiders and how serious you might be about buying or investing in those seats.  It seems the team are looking closely at PSLs or Personal Seat Licences.

The survey is being run by the BarrettSports Group LLC, but the emails are being sent out by nfl.com.