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Paul Gutierrez, ESPN Staff Writer
THE LAS VEGAS Raiders are returning to Southern California … not that you’ve heard much, if anything, about it.
Triumphant horns and exuberant strings will not emote “The Autumn Wind” to announce their arrival. Nor will silver and black confetti fall from the sky to celebrate their return.
The Raiders, who called Los Angeles home from 1982 through 1994 and maintain their massive popularity in SoCal, are heading to Costa Mesa in neighboring Orange County for 18 days of training camp, with veterans reporting Tuesday and breaking on Aug. 9. Yet because of NFL policy, the Raiders cannot promote their presence.
No billboards. No newspaper ads or radio commercials. Las Vegas media can cover camp, but no invites for L.A. or Orange County media. Nor will practices be open to fans, though some VIPs, select season-ticket holders, sponsors and invited guests will be allowed into the Jack Hammett Sports Complex, about 40 miles south of SoFi Stadium.
Since permanently relocating from St. Louis and San Diego, respectively, the Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers share territorial marketing rights to the area.
“Every club has an exclusive home territory extending 75 miles in all directions from the exterior corporate borders of the city for which it holds a franchise,” per league policy. “If another club holds its preseason training camp within that exclusive territory then it cannot be marketed locally.”
But training camp must go on, with or without the public knowing.
“That’s where we’re having camp,” Raiders owner Mark Davis told ESPN, “but the Chargers and Rams have the ability to block us from [promoting.] It’s fine.”
Davis paused.
“It would be nice if all the fans could be there, but, whatever. Like I said, the Chargers and Rams have that ability.”
It all makes for an awkward if cool return to a haven of Raider Nation.
THE RAIDERS HAVE held training camp at their Henderson, Nevada, facility since moving to Sin City in 2020 (they called Napa, California, their training camp home from 1996 through 2019). So getting out of the Southern Nevada heat — where July and August temperatures average over 100 degrees — for camp while continuing to expand their brand in a fertile fan base seemed a fruitful gesture.
But league sources acknowledged the Raiders, with their popularity, setting up shop where two other teams do their business, did not go over well with either the Rams or Chargers. Even as there was a “more the merrier” vibe for camp, a league source said. “That’s the upside,” the source added, “more teams.”
Officials with the Rams and Chargers declined to comment.
So, why did the Raiders move training camp to a place where not only their general fanbase could not watch, but also where they could not market the team?
The move was the brainchild of Antonio Pierce, who is entering his first full season as Raiders head coach. He grew up 30 miles away, near Compton, before embarking upon a nine-year playing career with Washington and the New York Giants.
“It’s about team bonding,” Pierce said. “When I played … we never stayed at our facility. I was used to traveling and going away and kind of [being] bunkered up, 90 or 85 players at a time, or whatever it was. And team bonding, getting together and getting to know one another, to get away from all the distractions. It’s all about ball. Just ball.”
Davis agreed.
“The best part of not doing it in Las Vegas is the bonding,” Davis said. ” … When camp is here [in Henderson], the vets, the ones that have homes here, they go home and see family. When you’re away at camp, you’re together. That kind of bonding.
“It was something Antonio wanted to go after.”
Interestingly, there will be five NFL teams within 100 miles of each other during camp. The New Orleans Saints are holding theirs in Irvine, not far from Costa Mesa. Meanwhile the Rams (Thousand Oaks), Chargers (El Segundo) and Cowboys (Oxnard), will be in the L.A. area.
The Cowboys have been in Oxnard off and on since 2001, before the Rams and Chargers returned to the Los Angeles area, and were essentially grandfathered in with clearance for marketing and open practices.
WHEN THE RAIDERS relocated from Oakland, they still had designs on holding training camp in Napa every offseason. But the pandemic prompted NFL commissioner Roger Goodell in 2020 to force all teams to hold camp in their respective facilities that summer, forcing the Raiders to stay in their newly built Henderson facility.
It worked out so well the Raiders stayed put. Yet even then, there was not enough room for open-to-the-public practices, so only select season-ticket holders, VIPs and sponsors were allowed in.
Such was the case, too, in Napa, where the Raiders began letting in fan groups in 2012 only after the death of longtime owner Al Davis, who tried to keep prying eyes at a minimum.
With Costa Mesa a one-off situation, the Raiders could potentially eye a return to Wine Country or even Northern Nevada, where the Raiders also had designs on eventually going before the pandemic. But Napa might also present similar marketing/media issues with the San Francisco 49ers, the lone team in Northern California since the Raiders moved from Oakland four years ago.
The Raiders’ SoCal sojourn is a one-year deal that includes the team paying $165,000 in rent to the city of Costa Mesa with other “contributions” that include $600,000 in improvements to the fields at the complex; 100 tickets for local students to attend an NFL game in Southern California; donation of outdoor weight training equipment to Costa Mesa High School; and a new mobile recreation van for programs in underserved areas.
“I ain’t ever been [to Costa Mesa] before, so I’m looking forward to it,” Raiders receiver Jakobi Meyers said. “It’s going to be a good time.”
They return to Henderson for the remainder of camp after an Aug. 10 preseason game against the Minnesota Vikings, and, yes, select fans will be allowed at certain practices. They’ll also hold two open-to-the-public night practices at Allegiant Stadium on Aug. 14 and 20.
It all has Joe Ortiz, president of the Black Hole booster club’s Los Angeles chapter, feeling a certain way. His favorite team coming so near his home sans the hoped-for and expected accouterments, is bittersweet, he said.
“I couldn’t even get tickets [to the Costa Mesa practices],” said Ortiz, a concrete technician who grew up in South Central L.A. and now lives in Anaheim. “But [everybody] knew they were coming. I’m sure those that show up will support the team. It’s awesome because everybody will show up, but it sucks that you can’t get in. It’s a beautiful situation but…”
Ortiz’s voice trailed off.
He said he regularly gets 300-400 fans at his tailgate party at SoFi Stadium when the Raiders come to town.
“We’re diehards,” he said. “It doesn’t matter where they go, we’re there.”
Except camp, a move that the Raiders hope will pay dividends.
“We’ve got to win, man, that’s it,” Davis said. “And, hopefully, this will help.”