Why are Raiders’ practice sessions not open to the public? NFL’s obscure rule hindering fan experience
The Las Vegas Raiders chose to host their training camp outside of their home city and headed to southern California for a few weeks. The Raiders won't have their loyal, diehard fans' support though during training camp, as an NFL rule has been invoked to prevent it.
Las Vegas will practice in Costa Mesa, California, 40 miles from SoFi Stadium. According to a report from ESPN.com, each NFL team has a 75-mile radius in which it holds marketing and promotional rights. In this case, the Los Angeles Rams and Chargers hold the rights and invoked their right to prevent Las Vegas from promoting their camp or inviting the public to watch practices.
"Every club has an exclusive home territory extending 75 miles in all directions from the exterior corporate borders of the city for which it holds a franchise. If another club holds its preseason training camp within that exclusive territory then it cannot be marketed locally."-via Paul Gutierrez of ESPN.com
Las Vegas invited VIPs and season ticket holders to attend practices on certain days, but otherwise, all practices will be closed to the general public. The Raiders called Los Angeles home in the 1980s and 1990s until they moved in 1994, and still have a solid fan base in the area.
Raiders owner Mark Davis confirmed that their training camp was blocked by the Rams and Chargers while speaking to the media, saying:
"That's where we're having camp. but the Chargers and Rams have the ability to block us from promoting. It's fine. It would be nice if all the fans could be there, but, whatever. Like I said, the Chargers and Rams have that ability."
Although Los Angeles media won't be there, the Las Vegas and national media will be permitted to cover training camp.
Las Vegas Raiders gift season ticket holders with epic gift
Las Vegas Raiders fans may not be able to watch their team prepare for the upcoming 2024 NFL season, however, some fans recently received an epic 'thank you' gift. Season ticket holders received a package from the NFL team last week: a treasure chest. When opened, the chest lit up and revealed a navigation map of the upcoming opponents in 2024.
While Raiders fans were excited for such an epic gift, the comments on social media proved that some are more concerned with the product on the field this season.