The LA Chargers and Las Vegas Raiders have an intense rivalry that dates back decades and has spanned across multiple cities. Both teams decided to relocate at the same time with the Chargers going up the I-5 to Los Angeles while the Raiders made the leap to Las Vegas.
The Chargers quickly moved to LA and played at Dignity Health Sports Park, the home of the LA Galaxy. The Raiders, meanwhile, stayed in Oakland until Allegiant Stadium was ready, making the move in 2020 when the Chargers and Rams also moved into SoFi Stadium.
During that tenure in LA before SoFi Stadium the Chargers struggled to draw a home crowd. Opposing fans would often sell out that smaller venue, making the Chargers the butt of many jokes. Thankfully, it has gotten much better since the Chargers started playing at an actual NFL stadium.
Raiders fans, who were leading the charge in mocking Chargers fans, never thought that it would be possible for the Black Hole to be infiltrated by opposing fans. Well, what do you know, it has. The Raiders' preseason opener against the San Francisco 49ers was so red that it looked like it was played in Santa Clara, not Vegas.
If this happened to the Chargers, the entire world would be talking about it for years. The fact is, this has NEVER happened at SoFi. Not even remotely close. This is by far worse than any Chargers home game looked. So are we gonna roll w/ the “Raiders have no fans” narrative? pic.twitter.com/TQNxGyrfQL
— Ryan DePaul (@RyanDePaul) August 13, 2023
Raiders fans are making excuses for sad preseason turnout after mocking Chargers fans for years.
This was a preseason game that does not count on the record books toward anything and Raiders fans are using that as an excuse as to why this game was dominated by 49ers fans. To be fair, yes, there is typically less of a turnout for the preseason as fans wait until the start of the regular season to flock to the stadium.
But it isn't like this was a 50/50 with an equal number of 49ers and Raiders fans. This game was absolutely dominated by 49ers fans so much to the point it looked like a 49ers home game.
More importantly, this is not the first time this has happened to the Raiders. This has actually become a trend for the Raiders with visiting teams often selling out Allegiant Stadium. When the Denver Broncos came into town the Black Hole turned into an orange vortex. Sure, Broncos fans also show up in droves to Chargers games, but it hasn't been as bad as it was in Vegas last year.
And let's not forget when the Washington Commanders took over Allegiant Stadium. Washington would never take over SoFi Stadium the way it took over Allegiant.
Oh, okay. What was the excuse for these? One of these games is against the Commanders — who cant even get fans to training camp, yet they took 90% of the seats at Allegiant. It’s more than just tonight. 🤷🏻♂️ pic.twitter.com/hy3OrQZ8k8
— Ryan DePaul (@RyanDePaul) August 14, 2023
The days of the Chargers fanbase being made fun of for not showing up (or existing) are long gone. Instead, the Raiders should now be the butt of the joke.