The Raiders field at Allegiant Stadium is a mess
Jan 7, 2024, 1:35 PM | Updated: 1:35 pm
LAS VEGAS — The Raiders field had problems in Oakland. But it seemed that they could leave their worries behind when they came to Las Vegas and moved into a gleaming new stadium with a grass field grown outside in the desert air and brought in for each game.
Not so much.
A pregame walkabout by KUSA-Ch. 9’s Scotty Gange revealed that the end zone at Allegiant Stadium was in a state of disrepair, with bald spots on the grass greeting the Broncos and Raiders.
The playing surface looks awful today in Vegas. Sad. 👎👎 #9sports pic.twitter.com/cBzD94Ad7z
— Scotty Gange (@Scotty_G6) January 7, 2024
This is not the first time that the Raiders field has been under scrutiny. It came under fire during the 2022 preseason.
Allegiant Stadium uses the grass field only for NFL games. The Pac-12 Championship Game, the Las Vegas Bowl and UNLV home football games take place on the facility’s artificial-turf surface.
But when the Raiders moved from Oakland in time for the 2020 season, they insisted on grass. So the Raiders field is grown outside and rolled into Allegiant Stadium for every home game. It is a similar process to the one used by the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.
The Broncos season began in August in Arizona — and there were problems with that field for the preseason opener. And now their season will end on another field that is in questionable shape.
