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Raiders: Vegas Golden Knights a good sign for future of franchise

By Dylan Huberman

LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 27: Visitors line up to take photos in front of the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign after Oakland Raiders fans placed team banners in the background after National Football League owners voted 31-1 to approve the team's application to relocate to Las Vegas during their annual meeting on March 27, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Raiders are expected to begin play no later than 2020 in a planned 65,000-seat domed stadium to be built in Las Vegas at a cost of about USD 1.9 billion. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 27: Visitors line up to take photos in front of the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign after Oakland Raiders fans placed team banners in the background after National Football League owners voted 31-1 to approve the team's application to relocate to Las Vegas during their annual meeting on March 27, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Raiders are expected to begin play no later than 2020 in a planned 65,000-seat domed stadium to be built in Las Vegas at a cost of about USD 1.9 billion. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /
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The NHL’s newest expansion team showed just how fruitful the city of Las Vegas can be.

The football world was taken by storm when Mark Davis announced that the Oakland Raiders were leaving the Bay Area for Las Vegas a little over a year ago. The Raiders were known to have one of the NFL’s most dedicated and intimidating fanbases in the league, so the initial announcement came as a surprise to most.

However, financial considerations aside, the move to Vegas looks better now than ever before thanks to the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights. In their first year in the league, the Golden Knights made the NHL’s Stanley Cup Final and are currently duking it out with the Washington Capitals for the Stanley Cup. Washington holds a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

ALAMEDA, CA – JANUARY 09: Oakland Raiders new head coach Jon Gruden speaks during a news conference at Oakland Raiders headquarters on January 9, 2018 in Alameda, California. Jon Gruden has returned to the Oakland Raiders after leaving the team in 2001. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
ALAMEDA, CA – JANUARY 09: Oakland Raiders new head coach Jon Gruden speaks during a news conference at Oakland Raiders headquarters on January 9, 2018 in Alameda, California. Jon Gruden has returned to the Oakland Raiders after leaving the team in 2001. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) /

The fans in Las Vegas, led by known Vegas product and MLB Star Bryce Harper, have made the team one of the best stories in recent memory. Everyone got behind this expansion club from day one, and the team repaid their debt by ascending to the top of the league.

While the Raiders are loved currently in Oakland, there’s no reason to expect the people of Las Vegas to have any less of a warm welcome for them than the Golden Knights. With hockey and now football in Las Vegas, sports fandom is spreading through the city and quickly.

The difference between the Raiders and the Golden Knights is the culture of their teams. Gerard Gallant has done a masterful job with the Golden Knights in their inaugural campaign. However, it’s difficult to compare Gallant and the legendary Jon “Chucky” Gruden, who decided to rejoin the Raiders, who he once won a Super Bowl with, on a $100 million contract.

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Gruden is known for running a very tight ship, asking players to constantly grind while under his roof, and those who cannot do so don’t last long on his team. Las Vegas is a city filled with tons of distractions from sports, none of which will fit with the tight ship Gruden is known to run.

What these fans have shown is that they love when their teams win and with Gruden at the helm, playoff expectations are always reasonable aspirations for those inside and outside the organization.

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All in all, one year of hockey has shown immense promise for a city that didn’t have any major professional sports teams a year ago. Football is a much bigger sport than hockey is amongst Americans, which should mean nothing but greener pastures for a Raiders franchise on the brink of massive on-field success.

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