- I'm standing just off the Las Vegas Strip
and just outside Allegiant Stadium, which is home
to the Las Vegas Raiders and more importantly,
host of the 2024 Super Bowl between the Kansas City Chiefs
and the San Francisco 49ers.
At $1.9 billion, Allegiant Stadium is
the second most expensive stadium in the world.
It has all the features
that a modern super stadium should have,
like a crazy futuristic roof, a nightclub in the end zone
and notably, the largest 3D printed sculpture in the world,
the Al Davis Memorial Torch.
Man, I wanna light that thing.
Now, we all know what Las Vegas is historically known for.
- Stay away from the tables, the house always wins.
- [Clay] But we're entering into an era
where Vegas is throwing major investments into sports.
So in many ways,
the 2024 Super Bowl is a coming out party proving
that the city of Las Vegas has arrived
as the sports capital of the world.
And nobody throws a party quite like Vegas.
That's why today, we're gonna take you
through the full VIP experience from top to bottom.
How much it cost, what you're gonna eat,
where you're gonna sit, who you're gonna meet
and we're even gonna talk to some of the people
who make it all happen.
Nothing is off limits because this is GQ All Access.
[upbeat music]
- You've come to the crown jewels of NFL stadium,
Allegiant Stadium, home of the Super Bowl.
- Welcome to All Access.
[upbeat music]
- So it's mid-morning.
It's very cool out here.
It almost makes me wanna suit up.
I mean, I don't know if you guys know this,
but I can kick a pretty mean field goal.
So Jets, Raiders, if you need me today, call me.
We're in the middle of Nevada desert,
the sun is beaming down,
but you don't feel any of that in here.
In fact, it feels a little bit like you're on a stage.
That's because Allegiant Stadium features
a fully enclosed translucent roof, uniquely designed
to protect players and fans from the burning Nevada sun.
Prior to the move to Las Vegas,
the Raiders played in Oakland at the Colosseum.
- The stadium was old, but we embraced it, it was ours.
- [Clay] The Oakland Colosseum was notoriously
the last stadium in the US to be shared
by a professional baseball and football team.
- Man, I hated that diamond
for the first half of the season, honestly.
We never practiced on the dirt.
We're at the same disadvantages as the other team as well.
- [Clay] That's right, it was a baseball diamond
on a football field.
Or actually, a football field
with a baseball diamond right in the middle of it.
Needless to say, not all of the Oakland Raiders
enjoyed sharing a field with the Oakland Athletics.
- I remember our first game,
I'm like, hey, they didn't finish putting the field down
because there's third base right there.
No one says anything to me, okay, the game starts
and it's still out there and that was just what it was.
- [Clay] With Allegiant Stadium, the Raiders finally get
a gridiron to call their own
in the form of a retractable Bermuda grass field
that lives outside and gets rolled in on game day.
Playing on anything other than grass was non-negotiable
for safety reasons.
To learn more, I caught up with Zachary Longenecker,
Allegiant Stadium's head groundskeeper
and more importantly, its grass whisperer.
What time do you get here on game day?
- My wife would tell you that if it's a 1 o'clock game,
I'll be here at 3, 4 am.
I like turning on the lights, being the only one here.
Everybody talks to the grass.
When you're a groundskeeper, you're like, just please hold.
[cricket chirps]
I only need two more games out of you.
So you get a little weird, you know,
when you're a grass guy.
I mean, that's just a thing.
- Do you have a lawn at home?
- No.
- Can you explain to me how the tray works,
how you guys roll in the grass but keep it outside?
- We have one 90,000 square foot tray
that lives in the south.
You want it to have 100% sun as long as you can.
Steel tray, it weighs as much as the Eiffel Tower.
- [Clay] If you're keeping score at home,
that's 10,000 tons.
- It's got 100 1 horsepower motors.
I only have 10 inches to grow the grass.
So I have two inches of drainage, then I have an inch
of irrigation pipes.
So realistically, I'm growing grass
in six inches of sand for 300 pound men
to beat the crap out of each other on Sundays.
- So what makes for a good grass surface in the NFL?
- Firm and fast, 100% grass.
- Firm and fast, okay.
- And safe, right, it's all about safety.
Some teams in the NFL are growing their grass to an inch,
we're at a half inch right now.
Josh Gibbs and Davante Adams, they want a quick fast surface
when they plant, they just go.
You're only as good as your last field.
And you don't wanna be the reason why
let's just say some player goes down
and then they're complaining about your field.
- You mean Aaron Rogers of my New York Jets?
- Maybe.
- So I've got all access to the stadium today.
What should I see?
- Torch is great, the Wynn Field Club
looks like a good little party.
- Do you know where I press the button to light the torch?
- You gotta talk to the big boss.
- Can you just tell me- - Yeah.
- So you do know where it is,
you're just not gonna tell me. [Zachary laughs]
One way or another, I am going to light that torch.
But in the meantime, let's check out some seats.
One, two, three Super Bowls, that's pretty good.
So right now I'm sitting very far forward, great access
to the field, right behind the home bench.
It's also nice because these seats,
they have a little cushion
and those seats over there don't quite have that cushion.
During the regular season, these seats ain't cheap.
But during the Super Bowl, they really ain't cheap.
They can cost you anywhere from 20 to 50K.
Some people might prefer a different experience.
So let's go check out somewhere else.
[upbeat music]
So now we're up a little higher,
pretty close to the nosebleeds and the view is still great.
That's one of the benefits of this being-
[band music]
It's one of the benefits
of having it be a 65,000 seat stadium.
It feels a little bit more intimate
and if you don't wanna watch the game,
you can also see the Strip.
Even though it's a pretty good seat,
I think I'd rather watch from the suites.
So let's go check those out.
[upbeat music]
We're in the Club suites right on the 50 yard line.
Got my popcorn.
There's also all types of good stuff back there,
sushi, beer, other liquor.
Sushi, did I already say sushi?
There's a lot of sushi.
Hello. - [Quiava] Hello.
- As chief sales officer,
one of the things you're in charge of is premium seating.
- Right now, we're in our Twitch Club level suite.
These are brand new.
- And so what do you get in a suite like this?
- You have a sushi boat, beef, stadium fare food.
You also have your very own private suite attendant.
[band music]
- Sorry, we keep going or...
What's the price range?
- The price depends on the game, the yard line and the size,
from 25,000 up to 55,000.
- We're at the 50 yard line,
so I feel like we might be in a $55,000 suite.
- And maybe I'll just up the price today to 85
since you're a Jets fan. [Quiava laughs]
- But in exchange, will you let me light the torch?
- No.
- Nobody here will let me light the torch.
[upbeat music]
Now, I could hang here all day,
but if the Twitch suite looks like this,
that got me thinking.
What does the Owners suite look like?
Let's go in and see.
Whew, feel like we're at the controls right here.
I feel like I can command an NFL team from here.
I gotta see where Mark Davis sits.
This is a good seat, feels like money.
There's 65,000 seats in this stadium,
but this is the one that money can't buy.
This is Mark Davis' seat.
These seats are very plush, there's even carpet
and they're the only white seats in the entire stadium.
Also, 'cause it's right on the 50 yard line,
you're right in the middle of the action.
And it's the finest Italian leather.
Don't fact check me on that.
This is what it feels like to own a football team.
It's pretty sweet.
Good luck getting into the Owners suite on Super Bowl Sunday
unless you're Travis Kelce's girlfriend.
You wanna be in a suite on Super Bowl Sunday,
you better have deep pockets.
Prices range from 300K all the way to 2 1/2 million.
At a lot of new stadiums,
you're gonna notice a giant video board
in the middle of the field.
One thing I noticed about Allegiant Stadium,
it doesn't have that.
To find out more, I hit up Matt Pasco,
VP for Information Technology.
So a lot of stadiums brag about their huge jumbotron,
AT&T, SoFi Stadium.
- We have a different philosophy.
Our philosophy is that we want your eyes and energy
on the field itself.
You didn't come here to watch TV,
you came here to watch a football game on grass,
and that's what you can do.
- This stadium obviously is beautiful aesthetically.
The tech behind it, what are some of the things
that make this stadium unique from a technology standpoint?
- The biggest thing is our connectivity.
We aimed to be and we achieved
being the most connected stadium in the world.
Come on.
This shows you lightning fast internet speed.
- [Clay] Oh yeah.
- Everywhere you go in this building,
you've got absolute high speed connectivity.
- I'm looking for the button that lights the torch.
- It's a secret.
- Can you just cough if it's that way maybe?
[Matt laughs]
That sounded a little bit like a cough.
I think we're gonna head that way.
Foiled again, if I have any chance of lighting that torch,
my best bet's probably gonna be the Raiders President,
Sandra Douglass Morgan.
So here's the torch.
I've been asking people all day if they'll let me light it.
- No.
The torch, it's about 90 feet tall
and it's the largest 3D printed sculpture in the world.
The torch was at the Oakland Colosseum.
You see the quote on there,
"The fire that burns the brightest
"in the Raiders organization is the will to win."
Being able to light it and having the fans do that
and having the fans from Oakland
or LA understand its meaning and have it here,
and then people that are new.
We have 40 million visitors in Las Vegas
and being able to tell that story every game is wonderful.
- Can I get a Super Bowl prediction from you?
- No.
- All right, we've seen the seats,
but it's not a true football experience without some fans.
So we're gonna head to the parking lot
and see how Raider Nation does it
at the Black Hole Tailgate.
Whew!
- Raider Nation in the house.
I am Chef Dex Crew, just cooking up wings all the time
wherever the Raiders go.
Blackened wings, all right, that keeps it Raiderous.
- What are we cooking here?
- I'm cooking some tripe Santa Maria style.
You wanna try it?
- Yeah, I'll try it.
Hell yeah, let's go.
Cheers. - There you go, baby.
Raiders, baby!
Raiders!
Raiders, baby.
- So why are you a Jets fan and why are you a Raiders fan?
- We're just gonna win.
- Still looking for a Crusader Raider.
I think we made it to the Black Hole Tailgate.
[upbeat music]
Are you a Crusader Raider?
- Good afternoon, Keith Smith, Crusader Raider here
at Allegiant Stadium.
You've come to the crown jewels
of NFL stadium, Allegiant Stadium.
- What's your favorite thing about the stadium?
- Obviously, when the Raiders are there, it's the Raiders.
- Do you have any idea how much the most expensive seat
in Super Bowl cost?
- $1.2 million.
- That's not a bad guess.
I think it's closer to 2 1/2 million.
- Wow, but do you get popcorn?
- You do get popcorn. - Oh, there we go then.
- [Clay] Okay, that was delicious,
but if I'm here for the Super Bowl,
I'm gonna need something a little bit more substantial.
Let's go see what Chef Lou is cooking up for the Super Bowl.
- Today, we probably cooked 15,000 hot dogs,
about 800 pounds of king crab.
We have six sushi chefs that come in just for game day
to prep sushi fresh.
Today in the clubs, we made 1500 pounds of Wagyu brisket,
we made 1500 meatballs. - Oh my God.
- 2,000 hamburgers, 4,000 nachos.
- So you got some Super Bowl food here.
What is that?
- So these are what we call wild items.
First one is a Wagyu brisket stuffed footlong hot dog.
Crispy onions, barbecue sauce, banana peppers.
I think you could do that whole thing yourself.
- Yeah, maybe over two days.
- Right here, surf and turf nacho, garlic poached lobster,
cheese sauce, beef tenderloin.
It's gonna come with a Super Bowl shot glass full of salsa.
Whew! - It's a wow dish.
- It's a wow, you heard that.
This is my personal favorite.
This is a colossal potato stuffed with lobster
and king crab macaroni and cheese, okay.
Squeeze the fresh lemon on it and you go to town.
And then last but not least, our caramelized donut sundae.
I call it Sunday, S-U-N-D-A-Y 'cause it's Super Bowl Sunday.
And that's got vanilla ice cream, whipped cream,
a little spun sugar.
- Cheers.
- Guy Fieri would be jealous of that.
- Bottoms up.
That's fucking sick. [Lou laughs]
- Can you say the F word on camera?
- This is worthy of a fuck.
[Lou laughs] This is unbelievable.
I'm gonna take this with me. - Yeah.
- Take care, all right. - All right, see you.
- See you at the Super Bowl.
All right, we tailgated, we ate some wild food,
now let's go check out the sickest seats in the NFL.
People are gonna think I'm some sort of TikToker.
Hi, how are you?
Go Raiders, go Raiders.
Twice in one hour, let's go.
I'm here with Hunter Beaty,
director of Wynn Field Club. - Yeah.
- Can you tell us a little about what's behind these doors?
- Yeah, what's behind these doors is something
that you won't see anywhere else in the country.
It's a full blown nightclub in the end zone
of Allegiant Stadium, spans the entire north end zone.
We like to think of it as doing game day the Vegas way.
- How do you get in here?
- You can either buy a ticket on WynnSocial.com
or you can buy a table.
We have 29 tables inside, obviously all the bottles.
It's like taking Encore Beach Club at the hotel
and bringing it here to the stadium.
- What's a ticket cost versus a table?
- For Raider games, they're $500 and then tables,
it just depends on the event.
Raider games can vary from 10,000 to 50,000.
- For the Super Bowl, a table will only run you $700,000.
Well, it's funny 'cause I feel like most people come
to a football game to watch a football game,
but if you're in this club,
I feel like there's a lot of distractions.
- We tend to tell people if you're here
to see the Xs and Os of the game, you're in the wrong place.
- If I really enjoy it,
can you maybe put me on the list to come back
for the Super Bowl? [Hunter laughs]
- Yeah, right.
- [Clay] So you're saying there's a chance.
All right!
I'm not usually a bottle service guy,
but since they got me a table,
I feel like it's only polite to accept.
Let's go check that out.
[upbeat music]
- What a time to be alive. - Right.
[upbeat music] - Sick.
We came, we saw, we conquered.
We may or may not have lit the torch,
but I'll see you at the Super Bowl.
This has been Clay Skipper for All Access.
How does everybody feel
about the Super Bowl coming to Vegas?
[crowd cheers]
Are the Raiders gonna win the Super Bowl?
[crowd cheers]
- Do you know who Rick Ross is?
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- Ross Rick, still always hustling.
[Clay laughs] - I love that.
- [Ross] Every day, baby.
- [Clay] Have a good game.
[light music]