Raiders, Viva Aerobus look to link Mexican fans to Las Vegas

The Raiders and Viva Aerobus launched a new partnership aimed at bringing more of the Mexican fan base to Las Vegas and Allegiant Stadium.

The deal includes naming Viva Aerobus the official Mexican airline of the Raiders, which will unveil an aircraft at a later date with a Silver and Black livery.

Viva Aerobus CEO Juan Carlos Zuazua is excited to further link the robust Raiders fan base in Mexico to Las Vegas.

“The two biggest markets, Mexico City and Monterrey, they have a 25 million population, and a huge Raider Nation metro area,” Zuazua said at news conference Monday. “There are a lot of tourists that will come to the games.”

Raiders President Sandra Douglass Morgan also cited the large Mexican Raiders following, noting the team has played in Mexico three times over the years. The most recent games occurred in 2016 and 2017, and saw an average attendance of 80,000 fans, Morgan said.

Transferring that energy to Las Vegas is one benefit the international partnership could bring to the game day experience.

“Those fans that are going to be coming in are Raiders fans,” Morgan said during the news conference. “I think they’re going to help with our home field advantage. This partnership is strong just like we have with Allegiant Air, and they’re going to be bringing Raiders fans to Raiders stadium, which is the goal.”

Partnership ‘just huge’

Zuazua said about 20 percent of Viva Aerobus’ business involves flights originating in the U.S., with 80 percent originating in Mexico. The U.S.-based flights are expected to grow with new routes and nonstop flights under a partnership announced late last year with Las Vegas-based Allegiant Air.

Allegiant, the naming rights partner of Allegiant Stadium and the official airline of the Raiders, announced last December plans to enter into an alliance with Viva Aerobus, aimed at increasing travel between the two countries. That alliance also played a role in the Raiders and Viva Aerobus linking up for their partnership.

“The NFL is really surging in terms of Mexico viewership, so we were able to make that warm introduction,” said Scott DeAngelo, Allegiant vice president and chief marketing officer. “We thought it would make a ton of sense. … No team or venue relies more on travel, just given the big concerts, given the Raiders fan base throughout the nation, and now throughout North America. Having a partner like this is just huge. There are very few partners that can physically bring fans to Allegiant Stadium and out city. It was the kind of easy connect the dots that we had going on.”

Customer-focused, fan focused

The partnership between the Raiders and the Mexican airline makes sense because the two brands share similar business philosophies, Morgan said.

“One thing the Raiders and Viva Aerobus have in common is they’re very customer focused, very fan focused,” Morgan said. “The reason they’ve been so successful is they focus on the customer. It goes from everything, not just cost, but the experience as well.”

Viva Aerobus signage will be added throughout Allegiant Stadium as part of the deal. Zuazua also hopes to spice up flights to Las Vegas, with their on-board crew members getting in on the fun.

“In one of our flights you’re going to see a flight attendant with the Raiders (jersey), or a helmet,” Zuazua said. “We’re a very fun airline, we like to do different stuff.”

Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on Twitter.