Allegient Stadium (pro sports in Vegas)

Last weekend a couple friends and I were in Las Vegas. As stated previously (see Vegas during Covid), we go about once a year, but this time was different. This time we went to see an NFL game.

Our hometown Vikings were in Sin City for the first time ever, and they wouldn't be back for eight years. The NFL has a predictable schedule in terms of who teams play outside the conference and division (so I'm told) and this game had been circled for a couple years. We booked our flights the day the NFL schedule released and before it was officially announced, good work Twitter rumors. And it was good we did, as all flights from MSP to LAS leading up to the game became outrageous and stayed that way. We bought first deck seats right around season kick-off in September and it wasn't cheap, though that's to be expected of any NFL game.

From the bridge, we got there right at open

Of course, if you watched the game I'm referring to, it was brutal. The Vikings defense was stellar, shutting out Aidan O'Connell and the Raiders offense. On the other hand Josh Dobbs, the Vikings 'Passtronaut' now a few games past his unbelievable debut against the Falcons, crash-landed and looked lost. The combination was a game not only without scoring but also without much ball movement. On top of that we saw Justin Jefferson, the Vikings superstar receiver, back after missing seven games, get hurt due to a high pass from Dobbs and had to be transported to a local hospital. In the end the Vikings made a QB change in the fourth quarter (Nick Mullens ftw), put together a drive long enough to kick a field goal and won 3-0. But it didn't feel like a win. It was really too bad too, because Vikings fans showed up in force. The stadium was at least a third purple, maybe more like half, and they (we) were ready but had very little to cheer about. Once the game started there were two chances to roar, one on a big turnover the only time the Raiders threatened to score, and two when the Vikings finally benched Dobbs for Mullens. That was it really. At least they got the dub but the game itself was almost nothing but pain.

Now that that's all recorded, let's talk about the more interesting stuff.

For starters it's just kind of crazy how much a sports town Vegas has become in a short time. It started in 2017 with the formation of the Golden Knights, an NHL expansion team, and the first pro sports team in Vegas. They're an impressive story, going to the Stanley Cup Finals in their first season ('17-'18) and winning their first Cup last year ('22-'23). They play at T-Mobile Arena on the Strip, between Park MGM and New York New York. Then there's the NFL's Raiders, formerly of Oakland (1960-2019). Since 2020 they've been in Vegas and play at Allegient Stadium, just on the other side of the highway from the Strip behind Mandalay Bay. Next is MLB's Athletics, a historic club that goes back to 1901. They are also planning on moving from Oakland to Vegas starting with the 2025 season. Since I'm first a baseball guy I'm excited about this development, in particular if their new ballpark is also on the Strip (the Tropicana site is the current plan). That'll be 3 major pro sports franchises in less than 10 years. From talking to locals, dealers and Uber drivers and the like, the feeling is that an NBA expansion team is only a matter of time. There's certainly a lot of money there, and it's not a small city anymore, and the fans seem to be pretty great. So it all makes sense. It's still crazy to watch in real time.

Red arrows was our route to the game, pretty easy but a lot of people doing the same

I also wanted to talk a little about Allegient Stadium and how it works, because that amused me. As I said above Allegient Stadium, aka 'The Death Star,' is right across the highway from the Strip, and at the very southern end. If you've never been to Vegas the 'Strip' is Las Vegas Blvd, the main drag which just about all the biggest casinos and hotels face. It's walkable, though you need to snake all over and take a bunch of (often broken) escalators and pedestrian bridges or go through the complexes. The highway is an interstate, I-15, that's unwalkable (obvi) and runs parallel to most of the Strip, just to the west. So if you're going from the Strip to Allegient you need to walk off (behind) the Strip, at least a little bit, and get across the highway. They did design and plan for this well. Mandalay Bay Road, which splits Mandalay and Luxor, and connects to Las Vegas Blvd, is a straight shot to the front of the stadium. There's a nice exit from Mandalay (our hotel) that took us out there without requiring a lot of thinking about where we were, a frequent problem when navigating the casinos. On game days they shut the road/bridge down and it's a giant mass of people all going one direction before and after the game. What's funny to me is there can't be that many stadiums where such a huge number of people are walking from a different nearby location like this. We made a few Walking Dead herd jokes as we made the march, it was especially packed after the game got out.

The thing under the stadium name is the Al Davis Memorial Torch, it's surrounded by a bar

The stadium itself and experience were both fine I guess. There are a lot of gates to scan tickets and getting in was quick if you avoided trying to go straight in the front. Watch out for the population control fences. Inside it still feels quite new, if a little sterile, and was very clean. You can't see the field from the concourse on the first deck for large stretches (not ideal imo), due to a bunch of clubs for certain ticket holders, something endemic in new stadiums these days. We didn't feel accosted by the home team fans, though there were a lot of us. All the food we had was great and I would've liked to try more but I'd spent and eaten enough. I was a little disappointed that there wasn't more of a show before the game or during halftime, it's Vegas after all. There was a band that played during breaks and they were fine, and Rachel Platten, a name I recognize, sang one song at halftime (not Fight Song luckily). Maybe I'm expecting too much. Getting out at the end wasn't too bad, we probably could've ducked out on one of the stairwells earlier than we did too. All and all it was a good time, the game aside, but was also not as special as I thought it could be.

I am glad we went. Maybe again in 2031?

To my friends who went with: feel free to add your reflections in the comments.