Raiders Club Seats all sold

The Raiders have overlooked many lifelong fans and sold the best Club Seats to Las Vegas residents in the hope of filling the stadium from day one.

Fans who had registered with the Vegas Raiders for seats at the new stadium got a bit of a shock on Monday.  Despite having paid a deposit, the first email communication most received was a short message informing them that “Club seats are no longer available” and that they’ll receive “additional communication” further down the line.

Now, for anyone hoping to get a Club Seat this is not only annoying but is further irritating in that it is the first any of us have heard anything from the sales function – so previous communication would have been preferred over additional.

Vegas-Raiders.net enquired how come no seats were available.  Had the “club Seats” been pulled as an idea?

No, came the answer, they’ve all been sold.

How could all the club seats be sold?

So how could that have happened when we, and many of you, were probably amongst the first to pay the deposit.  How could they all be sold without us even hearing that they were available to buy.

The Raiders organisation replied, “The current Oakland Season ticket members who placed a deposit had first opportunity to select seats then the local Las Vegas community who placed a deposit after that.”

Now vegas-raiders.net totally gets that faithful Oakland fans should get first dibs.  But Vegas residents?

Why should Vegas Residents get preferential treatment?

Surely most Vegas residents are not and have not been lifelong Raiders fans, like those of us at Vegas-Reaiders.net and many of you reading this. And why do they get preferential treatment when they need to show virtually no commitment to the team other than falling out of their back doors?

Current Raiders fans overlooked, again

Our ‘sales consultant’ replied again, “The Raiders Organization decided they wanted to build a fan base up in the city that they are moving to, here in Las Vegas. We did not want to have the case where the first game starts and 75% of the stadium is either not there or not raiders fans because people outside of Vegas purchased the seats.”

So, some casino valet who has probably never attended an NFL game in their life is being given first choice in the hope they’ll become a Raiders fan and not sell on their ticket to weekend visitors (Ha Ha, good luck with that one).

And Raiders Management are saying to hell with those, like us, who are prepared to travel 10,000 miles from Europe to watch our team and who have been fans for over 40 years.

Not impressed.

Cost of Club Seating

If they’d been available, this is what you’d have paid for one of the Club Seats on the lower deck.

The section on the 50-yard line came in at a handy $75000 per seat, plus the cost of the season ticket, of course. In the sections either side of the 50, it would have cost $35000.

The next couple of sections, which cover the 35 to the 10-yard line was $20000 plus $3500 per season for the tickets.

Raiders Odds for 2019 Super Bowl Lengthen Massively

Well, the best news for Raiders fans is that the season is finally over. 2017 was a huge disappointment for a team that showed so much hope and harbored real Super Bowl aspirations. A combination of poor defensive play and below average play calling means it wasn’t to be the Silver and Black’s year but, despite these troubles, there is plenty to look forward to; namely, we are one season closer to seeing the Raiders moving to Las Vegas.

Prior to the season starting, some bookmakers had the Raiders’ odds of winning the Super Bowl as short as 6/1. This was more a reflection of the sheer number of wagers placed on the team, rather than their actual chances of winning the Super Bowl, and the belief they were a strong ‘outsiders choice’ to go all the way. It seemed completely fair to expect them to bounce back after the 2016 season was basically cut short by a devastating injury to quarterback Derek Carr, but alas it wasn’t to be.

Looking forward to next season and the Raiders are 30/1 to win the 2019 Super Bowl, according to Las Vegas Sportsbook. This sees them ranked 17th favourite in the NFL, at the same odds as division rivals Los Angeles Chargers and Kansas City Chiefs, while the Denver Broncos sit further back at 40/1. Perhaps the major surprise on the list is fellow Californians the San Francisco 49ers, who sit at 20/1, thanks purely to the 5-0 stretch the team ran at the end of the year with new quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo at the helm.

The Raiders have plenty to be excited about after the announcement that Jon Gruden is returning as head coach. The coach, nicknamed ‘Chucky’ due to his fiery personality, had a successful stretch with the team in the early 2000s before he was traded to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers where he won a Super Bowl in 2003 against the Raiders. Gruden likely would have won a Super Bowl with the Raiders a year earlier had it not been for a certain ‘tuck’ rule that still angers Raiders fans 15-years later.

Expect to see the Raiders odds begin to shorten as the season approaches, as 30/1 is far too long for a team that was among the NFL’s best merely one season ago. If the draft goes well and the team can secure one or two big names in free agency, then the Raiders odds should drop to around 20/1, leaving them equal with some of the other main AFC names. It will be interesting to keep an eye on the 2019 NFL Conference Champions odds to see the likelihood of having a Raiders vs 49ers Super Bowl, which would take place in Atlanta despite the teams being only 33 miles apart.

Stadium Survey floats questions about Personal Seat Licenses

It’s clear the Las Vegas Raiders want to make one of the most iconic stadiums in the NFL, but also ensure all the fans are happy at the same time. The best way to do this is through a fan survey, and those signed up with the organisation probably answered a survey earlier in the year regarding Personal Seat Licenses (PSL), recently receiving a second one that goes into more specific detail about the options on offer.

By depositing $100, you could put yourself down to be on the shortlist for a PSL, choosing from one of three tiers. A PSL is a one-time fee that gives you the chance to purchase a season ticket for a particular seat in that stadium for as long as the franchise are there. This includes the right to sell those season tickets or single game tickets, along with getting access to other events held there, such as the Super Bowl. The downside is the PSL owner must purchase a season ticket every year, otherwise they will forfeit their license and any money previously paid. That shouldn’t be an issue, however, considering most teams sell out their season tickets each year and have fans waiting for them.

Proceeds from PSL’s are used to help with stadium costs and construction. A previous survey by the Raiders was used to gauge the interest of these licenses, and it would seem an overwhelming vote was in favour of them so it’s likely they go ahead. 14 other NFL franchises have used the sale of PSL’s to help fund their new stadiums, including the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in Atlanta that was opened this year. The PSLs for the Falcons’ new stadium ranged from $500-$2000 in the upper level seating to $10,000-$45,000 for the Club seats on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd levels.

Looking at other stadiums, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Raiders follow suit around these prices. The top-tier club seats have the highest range of value, potentially coming in anywhere between $5,000 – like those for the Jets – and the $100,000 the Cowboys had on theirs. Vegas is a primetime slot for big spenders, and with a high demand for tickets likely, we could see the top-level tier reach six figures like those at AT&T Stadium.

Now you may be wondering what that kind of money would get you, so here is what the top-level seating tier would likely offer:

  • Seats on the lower-level between the 40-yard lines
  • Wider, padded seats with extra legroom
  • Access to exclusive club lounges at field and top levels, with private restrooms
  • All-inclusive food and beverage packages, including alcohol
  • Right to purchase tickets for third party events, such as the Super Bowl
  • Parking pass and a private stadium entrance
  • A VIP experience for training camp
  • Tickets to all 10 Raiders home games (regular season and pre-season), and the right to purchase playoff tickets

That all sounds very appealing for anyone interested in football, especially Raiders fans. To pay for the PSL, fans are likely to be offered three choices; a one-time payment, payment over three years, and payment over 5 years. The one-time payment would see a 6% discount, whilst those over multiple years have interest included.

Raiders break ground on new Stadium before Mexico matchup

Construction on the new Las Vegas Raiders stadium has official begun after a groundbreaking ceremony took place on Tuesday November 14th. The event was full of past and present members of the Raiders organisation, along with other NFL owners and commissioner Roger Goodell. The event took place with the lit-up Las Vegas strip providing a night-time backdrop, showing how incredible the view from the stadium will be.

To officially break the ground, owner Mark Davis was joined by Goodell and Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval. The trio used spades and Raiders-branded hard hats to officially shovel the first scoops of dirt at the site, just off interstate 15. Sadly, all three won’t be around to help with the remainder of the construction of the $1.9billion, 65,000-seat stadium that is due to open in 2020, as much as we might want to see them get their hands dirty.

Among the other guests for the ceremony were Patriots owner Robert Kraft – who publicly backed the move from the beginning – along with Stan Kroenke and Dean Spanos, owners of the Rams and Chargers, who have both just undergone their own relocations to Los Angeles. Former players were also in attendance, including hall of fame defensive end Howie Long of both the Oakland and Los Angeles Raiders.

Current Raiders players were hard to find at the event, after the team has just comes off its bye week before heading to Mexico to play the Patriots. This is the second time the NFL is heading to Mexico, after the Raiders – hosting both times – won last year’s match-up 27-20 against the Houston Texans. This year’s team find themselves in a drastically different situation to last year, sitting at 4-5 and on the outside of the playoffs looking in past the seasons halfway stage.

It’s no surprise the Patriots (7-2) are favoured over the Raiders, with Vegas sportsbooks having the Patriots at 1/3 winners and the Raiders at 5/2. To cover the spread, the Raiders will need to win by over 6.5 points and the total game points must be over 53.5. Both teams have had exceptionally shaky defences this year, so it would be no surprise to see this game turn into a shootout.

Raiders face make or break only six games into 2017 Season

To say the 2017 Season for the Raiders has been ugly would be an understatement. Star players getting injured, poor defensive play and the best division in football have all contributed to a 2-4 start to a season where the Raiders were the popular outsider’s choice for Super Bowl champions.

Everything started well with two comfortable wins, away to the Titans and at home against the Jets, scoring a total of 71 points in the process and Marshawn Lynch looking like the running back of old. Since then the Raiders have lost four straight games, two of which were to division rivals, and not had a game leading passer, rusher or receiver in any of those games. The offense ranks 30th for total yards per game, well down on what was expected from this offense that was so promising a year ago.

Of course, Derek Carr going down with a back injury in week 4 against the Broncos was not good. He did end up missing only one game, but it won’t help the team at all if he is dealing with this injury for the remainder of the year and not able to play at his usual standard, especially considering EJ Manuel did not play too badly in his two appearances as a Raider.

The team does face a make or break game on Thursday night football against the NFL leading, 5-1 Chiefs. Kansas City has been on a tear after demolishing the defending champion Patriots in week 1, but their slip up did come last week against the Steelers in battle of AFC powerhouses. A win over these inter division rivals could easily give the Raiders their swagger back to run the AFC West for the rest of the year, despite currently being at the bottom of the division.

After opening anywhere between 12-1 and 20-1 (depending on where you looked) to win the Super Bowl, the Raiders now sit at 40-1. For a team sitting at 2-4 and bottom of their division, those odds aren’t that enticing. Only six teams have better odds than the Raiders from the AFC.

Earlier this week, the Chiefs opened as 2.5-point favourites, with the total points for the game being placed at 47.5. All bar one of the Raiders losses have been by more than three points, whilst all the Chiefs wins have come by seven points or more. Kansas has used its run game to substantial success so far this season, but with the Raiders recently signing surprise free agent LV Navarro Bowman that could come to a halt.

Sadly you would expect Kansas City to both cover the spread and help surpass the low points total as they outmatch Oakland in all the major areas so far this year and will likely do so in person on Thursday night.