Raider Nation turned out in the parking lots around Allegiant Stadium Thursday afternoon for tailgating ahead of the team’s final preseason game despite sizzling late summer heat.
As is usually the case, the majority of Raider faithful were in Lot J — the most popular of the tailgating spots around — with a spattering of San Francisco 49ers fans taking in the festivities.
Lifelong Raider fan Nelson Osorio of Los Angeles said nothing was going to keep him and his family from tailgating Thursday, even if there was an extreme heat warning in effect.
“It’s Vegas, I mean; it’s expected. Especially during the beginning of the season,” Osorio said. “During the end of the season when it cools down, it’s much nicer. I brought my kids out here. Every one of my kids are here. My cousin and my dad. This is not as important as church, but almost.”
National Weather Service Las Vegas lead meteorologist Brayden Murdock said the temperature Thursday was expected to top out around 110 degrees at 4 p.m., an hour before kickoff of the game. Temperatures peaked at 111 degrees shortly after 2 p.m. before easing to 109 by 4 p.m., according to data from a weather station at Reid International Airport.
“We’re going to see some breezy winds during that (tailgate time),” Murdock said. “That’s not going to be enough to really cool you off. And on top of that, we’re seeing a good amount of our cloud cover trying to clear up. So that means a lot more exposure to sun as well. So that’s going to be some of the main concerns for people having them out for it (tailgate).”
With the mixture of heat, light cloud cover and light winds, hydration is a must for fans who chose to celebrate pregame this time of year, Murdock said.
“It’s going to be one of those situations where our wind’s going to be coming through, it’s going to be a pretty dry wind on top of our already dry conditions. So, it’s going to be very easy for you to lose your hydration… Water and hydration is definitely a must in these conditions.”
Joe Gomez, a Raider fan from Las Vegas, said he’s lived in Southern Nevada for 30 years and hasn’t missed a game since the team relocated to the city. His favorite team moving to the city he calls home was more than he could have asked for, with tailgating being one of his favorite parts of game day.
“Somehow, miraculously, they ended up in Las Vegas, which was a dream come true for me,” Gomez said. “I’m a big Raider fan, and I love it. Rain or shine, 125 degrees or zero below, I’m here every single game. I haven’t missed a game since we’ve been here.”
Lot J wasn’t as populated as usual an hour after it opened at 1 p.m. for the 5 p.m. Thursday game. Osorio said the day and time of the game, as well as the extreme heat, could be to blame for the lower turnout.
“It could be the time of the day, there’s a lot of working-class folks, but the heat might be a factor,” Osorio said. “But two weeks ago, it was raining horribly at this exact time, and there was a few more people out than there was today. So I don’t know, I think just more scheduling.”
Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on X.
