Raiders fans are already bracing for a familiar scene when Kansas City comes to Allegiant Stadium on Sunday: too much red, not enough silver and black.
The chatter around the matchup has turned into a full-blown anxiety session in Las Vegas, with supporters worried the Chiefs will again feel right at home in a building that has picked up the reputation of being Arrowhead West. The game matters even more because both teams are unbeaten, and Raiders fans are hoping this is finally the day Allegiant sounds and looks like a true home venue.
Klint Kubiak made the appeal plainly when asked about the crowd earlier this week. “We need you. We need Raider Nation.”
Maxx Crosby acknowledged why the atmosphere has so often tilted the wrong way in recent seasons. He pointed to the team’s lack of success as part of the reason Chiefs fans have been able to show up in force and make their presence felt.
“Obviously when we’re at home, we want it to be all silver and black. We know the Chiefs fans travel well, as well,” Crosby told reporters Wednesday.
“And we’ve talked about it before, but we have to earn having the full silver-and-black crowd. We’ve won three games, but we have a lot of work to do and we have to earn that love and true respect, so everyone could come out and support us at that level, which we know is very much possible.
We know how much the fans love and respect what we do, but when you win, you know more people come out. That’s just the reality of it.”
That reality has sent Raiders fans into overdrive online. Some are urging everyone to keep their tickets and show up.
Others want the team to go after season-ticket holders who sell to Chiefs fans. One account, All Things Raiders, wrote that there were rumors half the seats could be filled by Chiefs fans and warned that selling tickets has to stop if the Raiders are ever going to have a real home-field edge.
“If there’s any Chiefs fans in the stadium @Raiders should find the season ticket holders who sold those tickets over the last week and take away their tickets,” Raiders & NFL wrote on X. “If you’re a STH and sold them before the last 7-10 days then you get a pass. Maybe.”
There were also calls for a full blackout at Allegiant, with one fan urging Raider Nation to “absolutely blackout allegiant Stadium” and make the building “loud as hell.” Joshua Jacopetti posted about the open seats in the “Black Hole” and told fellow fans: “You are part of the problem.”
Bill Williamson, the site manager of the Silver and Black Pride blog, said the concern is real heading into what he called the biggest game at Allegiant Stadium since the Chargers game in Week 18 of the 2021 season. “If Chiefs fans take over the stadium, it’d be a shame,” Williamson wrote.
Not everyone is shocked by the possibility, though. Some Raiders fans have basically accepted that this is what life looks like for the team in Las Vegas, especially for a high-profile opponent.
“IMO, other than the Home Opener and playoffs, Raiders will never have a home field advantage,” one wrote. “Vegas is a destination city. 2 birds, Vegas trip and a football game.”
Another fan blamed the economics of the market, saying the seats were likely never in the hands of true Raiders supporters in the first place. One longtime season-ticket holder said the move from Oakland changed everything, writing that the Black Hole will never be what it was in the Bay and pointing to the cost and travel involved in Las Vegas.
Another took aim at Mark Davis, saying: “Mark was only in it for the money! Relocating teams can either have rewards or consequences.
You can’t have both! That’s not on the fans, that’s on bad ownership.”
For now, the buildup is less about tactics and more about turnout. Raiders fans want Sunday to be the day Allegiant Stadium finally feels like theirs.
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