Years after the Raiders moved to Las Vegas, the team's Bay Area faithful still gather every Sunday at O'Sullivan's Sports Pub in Newark, 25 miles southeast of Oakland. The bar serves as the weekly meeting spot for the local chapter of The Black Hole, the fan section founded in 1995 after Napoleon Kaufman leaped into the stands and into the arms of co-founder Rob Rivera during the team's first season back from Los Angeles.
Rivera served as the group's global president until his death in September 2021. His wife, Rachel Rivera, said the founders wanted fans dressed in black so that "people in blimps to look down and see one big black hole." She noted the organization has grown to nearly 50 chapters worldwide and remains deeply rooted in the Bay Area despite the relocation.
"We are still just as passionate," Rachel Rivera said. "They might be the team that came and went more than once, but we're loyal and proud. It's a beautiful thing, people coming together for the love of the silver and black." On a recent Sunday, patrons wore Raiders jerseys rather than the elaborate costumes seen at games, cheering against former Las Vegas quarterback Geno Smith and the New York Jets.
Longtime season-ticket holder Fernando Sanchez, who held tickets in Oakland and now again in Las Vegas, said he knows fans who switched allegiances after the move. "I have no idea how you can do that," Sanchez said. "I'll be a Raiders fan until the day I die. I wouldn't trade it."
Sources: Las Vegas Review-Journal
Original reporting: Las Vegas Review-Journal →
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