KANSAS CITY, Mo. — "Arrowhead West" burnished its credentials again Sunday as Kansas City Chiefs fans flooded Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas with a sea of red.
It’s been the case since the Raiders moved to Sin City, opposing fans flock to the stadium and buy up a chunk of tickets to the game, but perhaps no franchise does it better than their AFC West rivals from Kansas City.
“Chiefs Kingdom travels well everywhere, but they’ve done a great job of traveling here to Vegas,” quarterback Patrick Mahomes said. “It’s exciting to see whenever you can get into a stadium and you’re in an opponents’ stadium and you see red everywhere. It shows the support that we have and have gotten throughout my entire career.”
The roar for every big play Kansas City during a 27-20 victory, which moved the Chiefs to 7-0, made rivaled cheers for the hometown team.
“I don’t take it for granted, because it costs money to travel, it costs money to come to games and people want to show that they support us,” Mahomes said. “We’re going to show the same support to them when we’re in the community.”
The crowds are a reflection of the trajectory of the two franchises in the last five years in some ways, but the Chiefs sure don’t seem to mind.
“I appreciate our fans and the support that we had from them today,” coach Andy Reid said. “It’s always good when you go on the road and you’re able to have all that red up there.”
Clad in red or donning the silver and black, the fans inside Allegiant were treated to a chippy affair worthy of Chiefs-Raiders glory days.
“It’s a rivalry,” Mahomes said. “It goes back further than anyone on that football field. No matter what the records are, when you come into this football game, you know it’s going to be a fight. You know it’s going to be a fight every single snap.”
Including the playoffs, Kansas City has won a franchise-record 13 consecutive games. The last loss came on Christmas Day last season against Las Vegas, but the Chiefs answered the bell against a feisty Raiders squad.
“Their head coach likes to play us,” Reid said. “Those guys, they get fired up and I’m glad our guys were able to answer it.”
The Chiefs have never lost at Allegiant. They are now 5-0 against the Raiders since the stadium opened in 2020, winning by an average of 12.6 points per game, and also beat San Francisco there during Super Bowl LVIII in February 2024.
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