hat happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.
For the NFL’s Raiders, who have been
the league’s nomads and perennial
couch surfers, they are fully
embracing this sentiment with a
relocation from Oakland to Las Vegas, where they have
built a shimmering US$2bn stadium they can finally
call a permanent home.
Since the team was established in the 1960s, the
Raiders have always been a tenant or in temporary
accommodation, whether sharing with the University
of Southern California at the Los Angeles Coliseum, or
co-habiting with Major League Baseball’s Oakland A’s
at the Oakland Alameda County Coliseum, which they
did during two stints. The house hunt has been a long
journey for both the team and patient Raider Nation
fans alike, but they may have hit the jackpot in Vegas.
Las Vegas is no stranger to architectural marvels
rising spectacularly out of the sand but sitting at the
southern end of the famous strip, a 64-acre plot of land
adjacent to the I-15 freeway is home to Allegiant
Stadium – a 65,000-capacity, ultra-modern building
designed by David Manica that gives both the
franchise and the city a new edge and identity.
The steel and black glass structure with stylish
swooping lines around the curtain wall takes
inspiration from a Maserati sportscar and offers fans
one of the best views in sports with a 200ft-wide by
90ft-high retractable door opening out onto the
famous Las Vegas strip. This peristyle end is just one
of the flashy and fantastic features at Allegiant
Stadium, and it perfectly encompasses the Raiders
history (with a design nod to the LA Coliseum) and
a view to its future in Vegas.
“With the strip on the right and the stadium on the
left, it forms a really nice gateway to Vegas,” says
Lanson Nichols, professional sports architecture
director at HNTB, and principal in charge of the
Allegiant Stadium project.
“For the people in Las Vegas, there is tremendous
excitement for this stadium and the arrival of the team.
Just like when the Golden Knights hockey team
ALLEGIANT STADIUM
7,400 glass
and metal
panels installed
14 www.stadia-magazine.com June 2020
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