The Oakland Raiders' home game against the Denver Broncos on Monday will be one to watch, and not just because it is the only major sports event scheduled for Christmas Eve. Due to the fact that the team has no deal for home games in 2019, it could very well be the Raiders' final game ever played in the widely despised Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.
The stadium smelled "like sewage, garlic fries, and cigarettes," recalled Broncos tackle Jared Veldheer to The Denver Post ahead of the potentially historic game. He added that at times "the sewage just got backed up and started seeping up in places."
But some Raiders fans are nevertheless mourning the dreaded stadium's curtain call, with longtime Oakland resident Abner Morgan telling The Mercury News, "That was our play yard, the big mound of dirt. I feel terrible." The San Jose-based paper called the possibility of the final game "about the worst Christmas gift an East Bay Raider fan could receive."
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The Coliseum was brand new in 1966, and has been home to the Raiders for most of the last 52 years. The team, which shared its stadium with the Oakland Athletics baseball team, will head to Las Vegas in 2020. Uncertainty surrounds the Raiders' future home games, though, after the city of Oakland sued the team and the NFL earlier this month, and the Raiders responded by withdrawing from an agreement to play in Oakland in 2019.
The Raiders will play the Broncos at 8:15 p.m. ET.
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