The Black Hole is expected to follow the relocating Raiders to Las Vegas, bringing a part of the franchise’s lore to the new Allegiant Stadium.
One of the most notorious fan-led areas in the NFL, the Black Hole primarily occupied sections 104, 105, 106 and 107 at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. It was home to some of the Raiders’ most raucous fans during their time in Oakland, but there had been questions about whether the tradition would follow the franchise to Las Vegas when it relocates there this year.
As it stands, it appears that will be the case, thanks to a solid contingent of Oakland season ticket holders that have purchased personal seat licenses (PSLs) at Allegiant Stadium and plans to launch a Las Vegas chapter of the Black Hole. With renderings of Allegiant Stadium depicting a field-level club in the north end zone, the Black Hole could be primarily concentrated on the south end zone, though it is expected that there will be Black Hole members throughout the venue. More from the Las Vegas Review-Journal:
“A lot of the folks that sit in the Black Hole in Oakland bought tickets in the south end zone at Allegiant,” [Raiders President Marc] Badain said. “Whether that happens organically, we’ll see what happens.”
Cisco Ortega, 49, was the vice president of the Black Hole at the group’s headquarters in Oakland and is the president of the soon-to-launch Las Vegas chapter. He said he knows of a few people from the Black Hole that will be in the south end zone, but said members also will be throughout the stadium.
“I believe there’s about eight (members in the south end zone),” Ortega said. “There will be other Black Hole members in the section over and different sections in the stadium…. I know that area (end zone) is known as the Black Hole area, but the entire coliseum in Oakland we had Black Hole members throughout that whole stadium.”
Plans are to officially launch the Las Vegas chapter with a Super Bowl bash, but those details are not yet available.
In addition to hosting the Raiders, Allegiant Stadium will be the home of UNLV’s football program. It will also be the home of the annual Las Vegas Bowl and the Pac-12 Championship Game in 2020 and 2021, and is likely to be positioned as a draw for other major events, including concerts, potential Super Bowl and Pro Bowls, and more.
Renderings courtesy MANICA Architecture.
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