Vikings Fans Are Swarming to Las Vegas in Week 14
Every year, Las Vegas is a destination for millions of folks across the world to take in all the sights and sounds of the Sin City.
It appears that many more will head out west this weekend as well, but with a different intention in mind other than hitting the casinos. Instead, Vikings fans will be swarming by the thousands to Las Vegas to take in this weekend’s matchup between the Raiders and Vikings.
Vikings Fans Are Swarming to Las Vegas
ESPN’s Kevin Seifert tweeted Wednesday, “My anecdotal evidence for a while has suggested that every rube in Minnesota is heading to Las Vegas for this weekend’s game. And now this: Vivid Seat’s Fan Forecast projects that 54% of the people at Allegiant Stadium will be Vikings fans. That would be wild.”
If these projections prove true, Week 14 could actually feel much more like a home game at U.S. Bank Stadium for the purple team rather than a true road game nearly 2000 miles away from Minneapolis.
This isn’t necessarily unusual for Allegiant Stadium. Las Vegas has been the home of the Raiders for just four years, so they are still trying to establish a firm footprint in the city. Making matters even tougher, their first season in Las Vegas happened to be 2020, and no fans were allowed to attend games in the city because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the three years since, Las Vegas has ranked 26th, 30th, and 31st in attendance, landing ahead of only the Chicago Bears so far during the 2023 season.
It’s great news for the Vikings that so many of their loyal fans are making the trek to Las Vegas this weekend. This is a very important game for the 6-6 team from Minnesota as they try to make a final push into the playoffs.
Adding to the excitement for this game is Justin Jefferson’s return, who is set to take the field for the first time since injuring his hamstring during the Vikings’ Week 5 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
If the Vikings win on Sunday, their playoff odds jump from 44% all the way to 56%, according to the New York Times’ playoff simulator. A loss, on the other hand, would plummet Minnesota’s playoff hopes down to 29%.
Everything goes down on Sunday afternoon when the two teams kick off at 3:05 PM Central on Sunday, December 10th inside Allegiant Stadium.
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Josh Frey is a Class of 2020 graduate of The College of Idaho and managing editor of PurplePTSD.com. When he’s not writing about the NFL, Josh enjoys running, gaming, or rooting for the Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks. Check out his Twitter account: @Freyed_Chicken.