The Al Davis torch. Stadium interior photos by Kassie Griffith
By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
It’s the building Southern Nevada has invested so much in, a dome-like stadium that drew an NFL team from Oakland to Las Vegas, with 65,000 seats plus luxury suites, chic clubs, and many restaurant-level concessions.
The Raiders played eight games in their palatial venue in 2020, but it was Saturday night when the Sports and Entertainment Palace with so many amenities was 100 percent full and all 65,000 seats were occupied.
The hugely popular Garth Brooks, the Country Music Hall of Famer with mainstream appeal, headlined the $ 2 billion Raiders venue, which included a $ 750 million construction grant from southern Nevada. It is the highest public money ever used to build an NFL stadium.
With an additional 20,000 people attending the UFC fight show at the nearby T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas scoffed at a dizzying 117-degree temperature and a COVID-19 pandemic to grab two of its award-winning entertainment venues because of the local market with the entertainment business economy wants normalcy and tourist dollars in the worst possible way.
Garth Brooks fans make the pilgrimage from the east side of I-15 via a closed Hacienda Avenue to the stadium.
It was a kind of Grapes of Wrath meets National Finals rodeo in front of the southwest entrance of the stadium for Garth Brooks.
The stadium was used a week ago by an electronic music artist named Illenium, a Denver techno DJ and musician who drew around 35,000 to Allegiant Stadium on July 3.
But the stadium’s traffic and parking problems have reached more intense levels today as concert goers buying parking tickets tried to figure out where to park on the stadium grounds, which only have about 2,500 parking spaces in the actual stadium area. Here the traffic is one block west of the stadium.
Adjacent properties to the west of the stadium attempted to collect the $ 100 parking fee levied by the raiders.
About two blocks west of the stadium in Valley View, some properties were charging $ 60 and $ 50 for parking.
A shop on Hacienda Avenue was asking for $ 100.
Hardly anyone wore a mask, even when less than half of Clark County is fully vaccinated and the test positivity rate is now north of eight percent.
At the T-Mobile Arena, which hosted UFC 264, 20,000 people were crammed into an arena to watch Conor McGregor fight Dustin Poirier. Cassandra Cousineau, at UFC 264 for LVSportsBiz, reported Dana White said gate was $ 16,076,000 and the attendance was 20,062.
President Donald Trump, a friend of UFC Prez Dana White, was there too.
Speaking of electric, with 85,000 people filling two venues, Nevada Energy had a message for its customers.
For the record, 65,000 people cheered Garth Brooks in a packed stadium.
And McGregor broke her ankle and Poirier was the winner.
“It’s nice to see that our city is alive,” said Steve McInelly from Las Vegas.
At Allegiant Stadium, fans arrived during a three-hour window but left all at once. Result: crowds of fans and traffic jams leaving the venue. Take a look at the walk back down Hacienda Avenue to the east side of the interstate.
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