Las Vegas History: Professional Football in Las Vegas

With the possibility of the Oakland Raiders moving to Las Vegas, Michael James steps back in time to look at the history of professional football in Vegas.

Recently, Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval signed a bill authorizing hotel tax money to be used to build a football stadium for UNLV, with the hopes to lure the Oakland Raiders to Las Vegas. Though this bill was controversial locally (and this is NOT an article discussing the merits nor concerns about using public money for a football stadium, and any comments to that end will be deleted), it still isn’t a certainty that the Raiders are Sin City-bound.

But if a franchise relocation to Las Vegas is approved, it wouldn’t be the first professional outdoor football franchise for the valley. There have actually been three previous professional football teams to call Las Vegas home. Remember any of these?

1994 – The Las Vegas Posse play in the Canadian Football League

In 1993, the CFL decided to expand into the United States in an effort to get some US money (in ticket sales, advertising revenue, and a TV deal). The experiment ended in 1995 as all US teams folded, however not before the Baltimore Stampeders became the only US-based team to win the Grey Cup.

For the 1994 season, the Las Vegas Posse was created, playing their games at Sam Boyd Stadium, but holding training camps and practices in a small specially built field on the Riviera Hotel property. The team was underfinanced from the start, and due to the CFL schedule (which starts in July so that the season is complete before Canada’s harsh winters set in) fans weren’t crazy about attending games in the dead of a Las Vegas summer.

According to Ye Olde Internet, the team had some talent (though the only guy I’ve ever heard of was Tamarick Vanover, who was a journeyman receiver in the NFL). And, a real head coach (Ron Meyer) who had previously been the head coach of UNLV, as well as the New England Patriots and the Indianapolis Colts.

But attendance was dismal (including the second-to-last home game played in front of just 2300 fans), and the Posse owner tried to fold the team before the season ended. The CFL wouldn’t allow it, so they moved that last home game to Edmonton, where the Posse got crushed and ended with a 5-13 record. There was talk about relocating the franchise to Miami with the help of Jimmy Buffet, but in the end, the team was folded and just swept under the rug. The franchise has been so forgotten that it was hard to find links and photos for this article.

2001 – The Las Vegas Outlaws play in the XFL

For whatever reason, Vince McMahon’s WWE (and NBC) funded XFL played the first game in league history in Las Vegas. The Outlaws took on the New York/New Jersey Hitmen in a game broadcast on NBC by Matt Vasgersian and Jesse “The Body” Ventura. The most memorable event occurred 20 seconds into the game, when the overhead camera swooped down on the Outlaws offensive formation and focused on the running back, whose last name was apparently He Hate Me. In reality, the XFL allowed nicknames on the uniform, and Rod Smart believed that he was so good that everyone would hate him after he blows past them.

He Hate Me was good for a laugh, and a story, but the Outlaws were a mediocre team with a parade of quarterbacks that led to a 4-6 record. The XFL lost approximately a zillion dollars (and their Saturday night NBC broadcast window), and the entire league was folded after one season.

2009-2012 – The Las Vegas Locomotives play in the United Football League

The most recent incarnation of professional football in Las Vegas was also the most successful… on the field at least. The Las Vegas Locomotives won the UFL titles in 2009 and 2010 and lost the title in the third season. The rosters included numerous players with previous or future NFL experience, like JP Losman, Tim Rattay, DeDe Dorsey, Marcel Shipp, Graham Gano and Steven Hauschka.

Three appearances in the Championship game, however, still couldn’t get paid fans in the stands as the Locomotives went from averaging 13,225 (well, announced at least) in 2009 to having 6,500 in attendance at their only home game of the truncated 2011 season.

Amid yearly rumors of financial problems within the UFL, the 2012 season began a week late, but ultimately ended with the league folding after four weeks. Las Vegas’ attendance at the last ever home game before the league went under was announced at 601. To this day, financial woes still dog the league and its founder William Hambrecht.

So though it would be a valid concern if the potential Las Vegas Raiders could draw enough fans and sponsorship to allow the franchise to be as successful as the NFL wants it to be, the fact is that Las Vegas has never had more than third-rate professional football in the past. Other people – making more money than I can ever dream of having – will make the decision of whether the Raiders come to the valley. Despite what many feel about public financing of stadiums, the state of Nevada has done their share. It’s now up to those deep pockets to decide.

[Images: CFL, XFL, NY Daily News, UNLV]

Michael James

Michael James is a true Vegas Nerd. First falling in love after hearing details of an aunt’s visit in the ’70s, and nurtured when the gambling bug hit as casinos started opening on every street corner across the country in the ’90s. When not reading Vegas blogs and message boards, he’s a metals buyer by day and a competitive bowler by night in Milwaukee.