Allegiant Stadium has become a familiar road stop for visiting NFL fans, and the Chiefs are expected to bring another heavy wave of red into Las Vegas on Sunday.
That’s been part of the story since the building opened in 2020. Raiders fans do travel, but Las Vegas has never been the kind of destination opposing supporters ignore when the schedule comes out. And few fan bases have shown up more effectively at Allegiant than Kansas City.
This week, with both teams sitting undefeated after three weeks - something few would have predicted when the schedule was released - Raider Nation Radio host “JT the Brick” used his show to make a direct appeal to any Raiders fans thinking about unloading their tickets.
“How bad do you feel if you sold your tickets as a Raider fan and you don’t have your tickets to go to this game? The money means that much to you? How bleeping boring is your life?”
He didn’t stop there.
“Boring that you’re not coming to the Kansas City Chiefs Raiders game and you sold your tickets to some dude in red and everyone in your section knows those are your seats. Be better!
Be better! Okay?
Just be better. And I think we’re going to be better in this game.”
JT revisited the topic the following day, saying he understands why some fans cash out when demand spikes. He pointed to the way opposing fan bases have filled stadiums in the past, then laid out the simple economics behind the choice.
“You know, when you see a Sea of Red or a Sea of Steeler fans, you know that fans put those up and said, ‘Here’s what I’m going to do. The Steelers want my tickets.
I’m going to price them, say the ticket is $600. I’m going to price it at $1,200, and if I get it, I’m going to sell it,'” JT said.
“And then all of a sudden, they look on their phone. Three days later, it’s sold.
They got $1,200. And they’re like, ‘Oh my God, I can’t believe I got $1,200.
I didn’t want to sell it. I wanted to go, but I got $1,200 for it.’
And that’s what people have been doing since the stadium opened. And I understand it.
People need money. The economy is weird.
For some, the economy is great in Vegas. You got billionaires moving here.
You got people worth hundreds of millions of dollars moving to Vegas and building homes in the summit and the ridges and southern highlands who can afford anything.”
“There’s a lot of people here who can’t afford certain things. So there’s a price point for everyone.
And I just know what good stadiums look like when they’re packed with your home fans. And this place is going to have a problem until the Raiders win a lot.
And when they win a lot, I don’t think it will be a problem anymore.”
The betting line reflects how tight this matchup is expected to be, with the Raiders listed as 4.5-point underdogs to the Chiefs as of Saturday evening. That’s the closest spread between the teams in the Patrick Mahomes era.
Even so, there’s still an expectation of plenty of Kansas City red inside Allegiant. Vivid Seats projected this week that 64 percent of the crowd on Sunday will be Raiders fans, a figure that would at least trim the amount of red in the building compared with some previous visits.
By Saturday afternoon, though, Las Vegas had already seen plenty of Chiefs fans arrive, and the city was well on its way to cashing in on the game.
In Other News...
Raiders Get A Brock Bowers Twist Right Before Chiefs Game
Brock Bowers popped up on the injury report Friday with an illness, giving the Raiders a late-week wrinkle heading into Sundays matchup with the Chiefs. The rookie tight end has quickly become one of the more important pieces of Las Vegas offense, and the timing of any concern around him is less than ideal with Kansas City on deck.
The good news for the Raiders is that Bowers is still expected to play, even after being listed questionable. He already worked through an early-season absence after a meniscus trim and came back with a strong showing in Week 3, so Las Vegas has reason to believe this latest issue is more of a brief nuisance than a real setback. [Read more 🡒]
Raiders Make Intriguing Chiefs Gameday Shakeup With Young Talent Involved
Aidan OConnell is back in the mix for the Raiders on Sunday, and his return to emergency third-quarterback duty was part of a noticeable Week 4 shuffle as Las Vegas adjusted its game-day roster for the trip to face Kansas City. The bigger personnel wrinkle for the Raiders came on the defensive side, where rookie Dalton Johnson was active for the first time and stepped in at safety, giving the coaching staff a fresh look in the secondary.
Las Vegas also turned to JJ Pegues over Jonah Laulu, another sign that the Raiders were willing to make some young-player decisions on a short week of roster management. It all comes against a Chiefs team missing starting left tackle Josh Simmons, a development that could influence how the matchup unfolds up front even before the Raiders get a chance to test their own new combinations on defense. [Read more 🡒]
Russell Wilson Just Added Fuel To Chiefs Raiders Week 4
Russell Wilson has put some extra attention on the Raiders' Week 4 meeting with the Chiefs by backing Las Vegas to pull off the upset and move to 4-0 on the season. The former NFL quarterback also singled out Kirk Cousins for the way he has played through the first three games, adding a little more buzz to a matchup that already carries plenty of weight.
The timing only heightens the intrigue, with kickoff set for 4:25 p.m. EST on CBS in a game that could shape the early AFC West conversation. For a Raiders team trying to keep its momentum rolling, Wilsons prediction is the kind of outside support that gets noticed now and could look even bigger if Las Vegas backs it up on the field. [Read more 🡒]