When the Oakland Raiders walked off the field following a Week 17 loss to the Denver Broncos, the team’s tenure in the Bay Area came to an end. They changed the social media names to “Raiders” while ditching a city designation. However, this time in the wilderness may be over with the team holding a press conference and teasing the new logo.
Wednesday afternoon, ESPN’s Paul Gutierrez posted a photo on Twitter that showed a metal Raiders logo. There was a difference from the classic design, however, as the words “Las Vegas Raiders” had been added to the logo with a metal router.
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“Today’s #Raiders presser in Las Vegas just might have something to do with this…” Gutierrez wrote in reference to his photo.
Today’s #Raiders presser in Las Vegas just might have something to do with this… pic.twitter.com/Unx7oP2pyP
— Paul Gutierrez (@PGutierrezESPN) January 22, 2020
“We better not be changing the logo…” one Raiders fan wrote on Twitter once the photo surfaced. Another asked about this raw design, wondering if the team was truly adding “Las Vegas” to the longtime shield.
This was a sizable announcement for the team, and they brought out players to be part of the celebration. Quarterback Derek Carr and tight end Darren Waller were both on hand for the event, as was Nevada governor Steve Sisolak.
The logo that has been seen on the helmets, team facilities, and merchandise over the years simply featured the word “Raiders” above the pirate. This new version would be moving the team into a new era as it moves to a new city. Some fans were pretty happy about the design and mentioned that they needed merchandise as soon as possible. Others were far less supportive.
“I gotta be honest. ‘Las Vegas Raiders’, sounds like a show on the strip. Never going to rock any gear with ‘las Vegas ‘ on it. Ever. Never ever ever ever,” another user added to the conversation.
The majority of users that responded to Gutierrez were not in favor of this proposed change, but there were some that thought a redesign was a long time coming. The team was changing cities and names, so they felt that it was also time to mix up the logo just a bit.
Many fans may not have been as excited for the changed logo, but they were hoping for a slight uniform adjustment to pair with the move. The Raiders have always been known as the Silver and Black, and some of the fans wanted to see the design change to include completely blacked-out uniforms for the home games.
Photo Credit: Ethan Miller/Getty Images
