Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr signs hard hats for construction workers during a news conference, officially renaming the Oakland Raiders to the Las Vegas Raiders, in front of Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2020.
Thursday, May 28, 2020 | 2 a.m.
The ticket industry’s biggest moment since March came early this month, with the reveal of the 2020 NFL schedule.
Unsure what to expect—with no promise games will even be played, let alone with fans in attendance—executives from SeatGeek, one of the world’s largest ticket resellers, settled in to monitor activity on their website. They saw ticket purchasing ramp up immediately—especially in Las Vegas, once dates for the Raiders’ inaugural season at Allegiant Stadium were released.
“It was interesting to see the Raiders just take off,” SeatGeek spokesman Chris Leyden says. “It wasn’t like people weren’t sure at first and waiting; they were buying. They are the hottest ticket in the league right now.”
Three weeks later, the cheapest home Raiders’ ticket listed on SeatGeek was priced at $208 for an upper-deck seat at the December 26 or 27 game against the Miami Dolphins, a higher get-in, regular-season price than for any other team in the league.
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At Allegiant Stadium’s 2017 groundbreaking ceremony, Raiders owner Mark Davis guaranteed “an army” of Raiders fans for every home game, and early indications are his prediction will prove true.
Raiders Home Schedule
(and lowest SeatGeek ticket price)
• September 21 vs. New Orleans Saints ($606)
• October 4 vs. Buffalo Bills ($290)
• October 25 vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers ($416)
• November 15 vs. Denver Broncos ($297)
• November 22 vs. Kansas City Chiefs ($412)
• December 13 vs. Indianapolis Colts ($231)
• December 17 vs. Los Angeles Chargers ($241)
• December 26 or 27 vs. Miami Dolphins ($208)
•Prices at press time
The Raiders sold out of personal seat licenses for their 65,000-capacity stadium in January, bringing in $230 million more than projected, according to team president Marc Badain. The additional surge on secondary ticketing sites demonstrates that even that strong initial buy didn’t satisfy demand.
On SeatGeek, the Raiders rank first among NFL franchises in both ticket sales and search traffic. They’re second in both categories on rival StubHub, behind the Dallas Cowboys in sales and behind the Tampa Bay Buccaneers—which signed six-time Super Bowl champion quarterback Tom Brady in the offseason—in traffic.
“I remember people being fearful of Vegas as a sports city that could support a team before the Knights showed up, and I feel like that myth has been disproven,” SeatGeek’s Leyden says. “This is just more fuel for that fire. It’s clear that whether it’s people living in the suburbs, people coming from Southern California, people coming from around the globe, it’s a city that will continue to support professional sports teams, because people love to be there.”
Six countries and all 50 states were represented among personal seat license purchasers, and the national and international trend has continued on the secondary market. Combined, California and Nevada comprise just 46% of SeatGeek’s Raiders’ search metrics—a figure that would be higher for the state and surrounding states of nearly every other team in the NFL.
“Part of it is just being a new team in a new city, but it’s also a new stadium,” Leyden says. “People love to go see new venues.”
The Rams and Chargers are also moving into a new building—they’ll both use SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California—but interest in those teams’ home games has been more measured.
Tickets to the Chargers’ home opener against the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs were available for as low as $81 on SeatGeek three weeks after the schedule release. The Rams ranked fifth in sales on SeatGeek after two weeks, largely on the strength of their opening week game against the Cowboys. The get-in price for that game was a relatively hefty $262, but that paled in comparison to the Raiders’ first home game.
The cheapest ticket for the Raiders’ Week 2 Monday Night Football contest against the New Orleans Saints was $606 on SeatGeek. The average price for the Saints-Raiders was $911, making it the most expensive regular-season game in the league by more than $200.
Two other nationally televised Raiders’ home games occupied the second and third spots—a Week 7 Sunday Night Football game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers cost $699 on average, while a Week 11 Sunday Night Football game versus the Kansas City Chiefs came in at $653.
“It’s the matchup that typically drives demand more than if the game is in prime time, at least historically,” Leyden says. “Look at who they’re playing. The Raiders have the matchups, but the Las Vegas Raiders is such a new concept, it’s dangerous to assume what’s true in the past is true here. It will be interesting to see if Vegas becomes a prime-time destination more than most other NFL cities.”
Now, the most pressing question for prospective buyers is whether ticket prices will drop over the next few months and into the season. Leyden says traditionally that could happen if the home team struggles, but he’s not as certain with the Raiders, given visiting fan bases’ desire to travel to Las Vegas.
It would stand to reason that even if the NFL proceeds with fans in the fall—a scenario that seems like a long shot at the moment—some wouldn’t feel comfortable being around thousands of people in the midst or aftermath of a pandemic. But the market is indicating otherwise, so no matter when it might happen, it’s safe to conclude that seeing the Raiders live won’t be a cheap proposition.
“If COVID hadn’t happened, I think we’d see [even] bigger numbers, because you have to imagine there are some fans holding off and buying tickets closer to the season because they’re not sure if it’s going to happen,” Leyden says. “It makes the numbers a little more impressive in that way, but on the other hand you have this pent-up demand. People want something to look forward to. Maybe all the fans buying these tickets—the average person would say they’re optimistic, but I think maybe it’s people getting excited about something, because it’s far enough away that it might actually happen.”
This story appeared in Las Vegas Weekly.
