ON EVE OF RAIDERS LAST GAME IN OAKLAND, QUESTIONS FOR VEGAS
South end zone of Las Vegas Stadium: Future home of the Raiders’ infamous Black Hole fan section? Photo: Norm Clarke
Questions abound as the Oakland Raiders prepare to bid farewell to the Coliseum on Sunday.
-- Will Raider nation turn out in the same numbers when the infamous Black Hole is relocated in the south end zone stands of the $2 billion Las Vegas stadium?
--Are the rumors true that the NFL, Raiders and Las Vegas law enforcement are planning to make a strong statement that hooliganism won’t be tolerated?
-- Will the steep personal seat license fees ($7,500 to $8,000) bring a kinder and gentler clientele to the iconic NFL fan section?
Here’s what we’ve learned:
--Raiders season ticket holders were given first dibs for what could become Black Hole 2.0. Raiders president Marc Badain told me that while the team isn’t involved in organizing the Black Hole there’s an expectation that it will happen “organically,” just as it did in Oakland. He said the section was sloped to put the fans closer to the field level.
--Yes, the league, Raiders and local law enforcement have been exploring how to best deal with the rising issues with fan comportment.
Photo: Norm Clarke
I asked old friend Mark Purdy, longtime sports editor of the San Jose Mercury News, for his thoughts on some of issues that Las Vegas may be dealing with.
“The NFL in general has had an issue over the last 15 or 20 years in terms of crowd comportment,” said Purdy, who retired two years ago. “I'm not certain when it became a thing that the expected behavior for fans at NFL games is to show up on Sundays, get as drunk as possible and then taunt fans from the other team in hopes of provoking fights. But that's too often where we are, from Buffalo to Dallas to Oakland and points in between.”
The view from the north end. Photo: Norm Clarke
He said the Black Hole was an “organic phenomenon that developed when the Raiders moved back to Oakland in 1995 and the folks who had seats behind the south end zone at the Coliseum began calling themselves that. I've known people who sit there and they say it's a fun experience. I've also talked to people who sat there while wearing opposing team's jerseys and said they have never had such a bad experience. I believe both of them. But it would surprise me if, in Vegas, the Raiders wanted to see the Black Hole be as rowdy as it has been in Oakland -- while keeping the name as a trademarked attraction in some fashion.
“Right now, the NFL sees each team's season as 16 marketing opportunities with a little football mixed in (as opposed to the way it was when I first met you in Cincinnati 40 years ago, when the NFL was 90% football with a little sizzle around the edges).”
One thing is clear. The expectation is that Las Vegas won’t be dealing with what famed Gonzo writer Hunter Thompson described decades ago:
"The massive Raider Nation is beyond doubt the sleaziest and rudest and most sinister mob of thugs and wackos ever assembled.” A longtime Colorado resident, he may have been a Broncos fan.
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