Raiders' Training Camp Slapped with Restrictions

The Las Vegas Raiders moved this year's training camp to California. A few teams reportedly were not happy about it and decided to take advantage of a little-known rule.

Las Vegas Raiders Offensive Tackle Delmar (DJ) Glaze / Darrell Craig Harris, Sports Illustrated

Earlier this offseason, the Las Vegas Raiders announced that they would move this year’s training camp away from the record-breaking heat in Las Vegas to the much cooler Jack Hammett Sports Complex in Costa Mesa, CA.

This move was meant to benefit the players, helping them bond together as a team and preserve their bodies during training camp, as they would not have to deal with the blistering Las Vegas heat that has routinely reached 120 degrees this summer.

"Team bonding,” Raiders coach Antonio Pierce said. “Getting together, getting to know one another. Getting away from all the distractions. All about ball, just ball," Pierce said. "I want us to be the tightest group of Raiders that, hopefully, this organization has ever seen, and that's what we're going to grow and build on."

The move was also believed initially to be one that would help the Raiders connect with their Southern California roots and the many Raiders fans who live in the area. However, not everyone was happy about the Raiders’ attempts to extend an olive branch to fans who live in the area and may not be able to make it to Las Vegas for regular-season games. 

While the Raiders hoped to reconnect with fans in and around Los Angeles, it was recently announced that fans would not be allowed to attend any of the Raiders’ training camp practices because of a little-known rule a local team decided to invoke.

The National Football League has a policy that says the Raiders holding their training camp just south of Los Angeles encroaches upon the home territory of the Los Angeles Rams and Chargers. The infringement has led to multiple restrictions on the Raiders' training camp. The Raiders cannot allow local fans to attend training camp practices, invite local Los Angeles media, or publicize or market the practices.

Per ESPN's Paul Gutierrez, the rule states: "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. If another club holds its preseason training camp within that exclusive territory, then it cannot be marketed locally." 

The Raiders are not allowed to allow local fans to attend any training camp practices, invite local Los Angeles media to the practices, or publicize or market the practices.

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