GM Reggie McKenzie says team will have ‘true Raiders fan base’ in Las Vegas

Two years from now the Oakland Raiders will have packed up and moved their team to play in their shiny new stadium in Las Vegas. With the move still on the horizon, there has been a lot of debate as to whether or not the Raiders will be able to keep the vaunted home-field advantage that currently exists in Oakland’s Black Hole.

Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie is not among those who are skeptical of the team’s ability to grow a hostile environment even though Vegas could be an attractive vacation spot for many away team’s fans for the weekend.

“I think the combination of Oakland and LA will migrate to those games (in Las Vegas). I think we’re going to get a true Raiders fan base,” McKenzie told the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Gilbert Manzano.

“I think they’re going to stay with us, I really do,” McKenzie continued. “They gave no indication that they’re not going to support the Raiders, that’s for sure. I think they’re going to continue to support and be even more supportive.”

Fans in Los Angeles were certainly ready to show their support in Saturday’s preseason game against the Los Angeles Rams. But showing up to a game in your own city is much different than one in a different state some five hours away.

At the moment, there is plenty of information and sound opinions that can make a person feel confident that Oakland will or won’t get a home-field advantage when they move to Las Vegas in 2020.

McKenzie sounds confident for the future, but he is on the team’s pay roll and would never be allowed to speak negatively about the relocation. But the fact is that no one will know concretely until many seasons after the actual move is completed.