Latest look at Raiders’ Las Vegas stadium, which Saints will visit in 2020

The New Orleans Saints will play the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium in 2020. A viral video showed how construction is progressing.

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The New Orleans Saints will hit the road in 2020, and help ring in the then-Las Vegas Raiders’ inaugural season at Allegiant Stadium. That venue is still under construction, but is progressing well towards its Aug. 2020 opening date, and The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that the NFL is considering it to host the 2020 season’s first Sunday night game.

That means there’s a scenario where the Saints and the Raiders headline the NFL’s Week 1 schedule next year. While the reigning Super Bowl champions traditionally host the first game of the next year (and the Saints are very much contending for that championship), the NFL has shown a willingness to go in other directions when it benefits them. For example, they scheduled a game between the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers to open up the league’s 100th season in 2019, putting the Super Bowl-champion New England Patriots on Sunday night.

Next season, there’s the added factor of Los Angeles opening the new SoFi Stadium, which will house both the Rams and Chargers. The Review-Journal report adds that a Rams home game is being considered for Thursday night in Week 1, which would boot the Super Bowl champions (whoever they are, and hopefully the Saints) into another time slot.

So the Saints and Raiders could kick off on Sunday night in early Sept. 2020, even in the event that the Saints win Super Bowl LIV in Miami. While it would be disappointing for the Saints to lose that prestigious opening-night game in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome for Week 1, it’s tough to complain about the idea of opening the 2020 season in Las Vegas at a shining-new venue against a fringe playoff team. With NFL superstars like Drew Brees, Michael Thomas, and Alvin Kamara and one of the league’s best-traveling fanbases involved, this would be a tantalizing draw for the NFL.

As for Allegiant Stadium itself: it’s a $1.8 billion project that will host 65,000 seats and host both the Raiders and the UNLV Rebels. A recent viral video shared a street-side view of the under-progress stadium, along with its glossy black exterior. Yeah, it’s easy to picture the Saints playing here (and leaving with a win):

 

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