A small business will get ‘a leg up’ from Raiders as team bonds with new community

Mark Damon/Las Vegas News Bureau

Raiders President Marc Badain participates in a panel discussion on tourism at Preview Las Vegas, the business forecasting event, sponsored by the Las Vegas Metro Chamber of Commerce at the Thomas & Mack Center Cox Pavilion on Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019.

If you are watching a Las Vegas Raiders game next season and notice an advertisement that seems out of place—How could a company of that size afford such a placement?—your eyes are not deceiving you.

Nevada’s National Football League team is offering a seasonlong sponsorship package valued at $100,000 to one Nevada or Utah small business. Through a partnership with Utah-based America First Credit Union, the Raiders will give away a sponsorship deal that will include signage inside Allegiant Stadium, radio commercials, digital promotions on the team’s website and mobile app, and tickets to a game.

The contest is open to Nevada- and Utah-based for-profit businesses that have annual revenues of less than $10 million.

Owners wre asked to submit a profile of their business and detail how the sponsorship would help their operation. Finalists will be notified in May and then further present their case.

As of mid-March, a little over 100 businesses had entered the contest, according to America First officials.

“Many members of Raider Nation operate small businesses and we are grateful for their entrepreneurship,” Raiders president Marc Badain said in a statement to Vegas Inc. “The showcase will not only support a winner, but will also bring focus to the importance of small businesses in Nevada and Utah. Positive community impact is of paramount importance to the Raiders organization.”

Nicole Cypers, vice president of public relations for America First, said those paging through applications—America First and Raiders representatives have teamed to sort through the applications—will pay particular attention to those businesses that are active in their communities.

“Our philosophy, as well as that of the Raiders, is to give back to the community,” Cypers said. “Small businesses are important to both organizations, so we wanted to see if there was something we could do to help small businesses. This contest was the result.”

For the Raiders, finding ways to become involved with local initiatives has been a focus since before the franchise moved to Las Vegas from Oakland, Calif., prior to the 2020 season.

The Raiders Foundation, the charitable arm of the franchise, has made efforts to assist those dealing with food insecurity, law enforcement agencies, health care workers, and youth sports programs, and has been particularly active during the coronavirus pandemic.

In February, the Raiders sent four local Intermountain health care workers to the Super Bowl in Tampa, Fla., as a gesture of appreciation for their work during the pandemic.

Raiders owner Mark Davis, who also owns the Las Vegas Aces WNBA franchise, donated $1 million to the Nevada COVID-19 Task Force.

The team also donated $25,000 to the Actors Fund as part of the Mondays Dark telethon to support Las Vegas entertainers who have been unable to work during much of the pandemic.

As a lending institution, America First—which is based in Ogden, Utah, but does business in Utah, Nevada, Arizona and Idaho—understands how hard the pandemic has been on many small-business owners within its footprint, Cypers said.

“This is a chance to give a small business a leg up when they need it the most,” she said. “It’s been a difficult time for so many small-business owners during the pandemic. This is just our first year doing this, but our intent is to also do this for many years to come.”

In a statement, America First president and CEO John Lund called small businesses “the lifeblood” of the communities served by the credit union.

“Many mom-and-pop shops have been rocked by the pandemic,” Lund said. “They deserve to be highlighted now more than ever.”

Of course, fans weren’t allowed into Allegiant Stadium—the team’s $2 billion off-Strip sports and entertainment palace—during the 2020 football season, but that’s likely to change for the 2021 season as more Americans become vaccinated against COVID-19.

If Allegiant Stadium is allowed to be at capacity for the Raiders games it hosts this fall, there’s the potential for about 65,000 sets of eyeballs to catch a glimpse of an advertiser’s signage inside the stadium.

“We think something like that could really help give a business a leg up,” Cypers said.

The contest might also be a way for the Raiders to make some inroads with Utah football fans.

According to a 2019 survey conducted by think tank UtahPolicy.com, the most popular NFL team in the state—which doesn’t have its own NFL franchise—was the Denver Broncos, who routinely have their games shown on local television there.

But that doesn’t mean the Raiders can’t make some inroads in the Beehive State.

“In speaking with the Raiders, there was an opportunity with the team’s move to Las Vegas,” Cypers said. “The Raiders are a lot closer to Utah now. We feel like there are a lot of Raiders fans in Utah.”

Business

This story appeared in Las Vegas Weekly.

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