When the Las Vegas Raiders moved to Sin City in 2020, they arrived with a stadium unlike anything the NFL had seen: a $1.9 billion, all-black dome that locals immediately dubbed the ‘Death Star.’ Rising just west of the Strip at 3333 Al Davis Way, Allegiant Stadium is a deliberate spectacle — a climate-controlled monolith of dark glass and ETFE panels designed by MANICA Architecture to look as fitting on a sci-fi film set as it does in the entertainment capital of the world.
Since opening on September 21, 2020, the stadium has grown into one of the most versatile and highest-grossing live-event venues on the planet. It hosted the first-ever Las Vegas Super Bowl (LVIII, February 2024), regularly sells out concerts by the world’s biggest acts, and Billboard has ranked it among the top-grossing stadiums in the United States in back-to-back years. Whether you’re headed there for a Raiders game, a world tour, a guided tour of the building itself, or just planning how to get in the door, here’s everything you need to know.
Quick Answer
Allegiant Stadium is a fully enclosed, climate-controlled NFL stadium in Paradise, Nevada, seating roughly 65,000 for Raiders games (expandable to around 71,800 for concerts and other major events). Built for $1.9 billion and opened in 2020, it’s nicknamed the ‘Death Star’ for its all-black domed exterior and is home to the Las Vegas Raiders and UNLV Rebels football. It hosted Super Bowl LVIII in 2024 and is confirmed to host Super Bowl LXIII in February 2029.
The ‘Death Star’ Design Explained
MANICA Architecture — a Kansas City firm that specializes in sports entertainment venues — designed Allegiant Stadium around a single aesthetic concept: a luxury sports car expressed in steel, glass, and ETFE panels. The jet-black exterior paired with silver trim and programmable lighting earned the ‘Death Star’ nickname before the stadium even opened, and the moniker has stuck ever since.
The seven-acre translucent ETFE roof is suspended from stainless-steel cables, creating a lightweight canopy that admits soft natural light while sealing Nevada’s desert heat outside. Inside, the seating bowl is horseshoe-shaped with the open end oriented toward the Strip, where two massive operable walls can retract to frame a panoramic view of the skyline. The 10-level structure is entirely column-free in the main bowl, giving every seat an unobstructed sightline, and the building contains thousands of tons of structural steel, dozens of escalators, and tens of thousands of square feet of video boards spread throughout the facility.
The Roll-Out Grass Field: How It Works
One of Allegiant Stadium’s most celebrated engineering achievements is its natural grass playing surface — a genuine rarity inside a fully domed stadium. Because the Raiders insist on playing on real turf, and grass cannot survive without sunlight, the entire field was built to move. The roughly 220-foot-wide tray weighs approximately 19 million pounds — comparable to the Eiffel Tower — and travels on hundreds of electronically powered wheels.
It rolls out through the stadium’s south end so the turf can receive direct sunlight and water, then rolls back inside for game day; the full journey takes about an hour each way. UNLV, the stadium’s other primary football tenant, plays on a separate artificial turf surface installed while the grass tray is outside. The dual-surface setup is one of only a handful of its kind in North American professional sports, and it became a particular point of fascination when the field was showcased on the global stage during Super Bowl LVIII.
The Al Davis Memorial Torch
Dominating the south end zone is the Al Davis Memorial Torch, a tribute to the late Raiders owner whose decades-long drive to find the franchise a permanent home made this stadium possible. Standing 93 feet tall, the torch is recognized as the world’s tallest 3D-printed structure, built from 225 individual blocks of carbon fiber-reinforced polycarbonate — each weighing around 350 pounds — clad in machined aluminum panels for its polished silver finish.
The torch illuminates before every Raiders home game in a pre-kickoff lighting ceremony that has quickly become a fan tradition, and a circular bar wraps around its base, making it an unofficial gathering spot on game nights.
Big Games: Super Bowls and Championship Events
Allegiant Stadium’s highest-profile sporting moment arrived on February 11, 2024, when it hosted Super Bowl LVIII — the first NFL championship game ever played in Las Vegas. The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers 25-22 in overtime in a game that became one of the most-watched telecasts in U.S. television history. The city made enough of an impression that the NFL officially awarded Allegiant a second Super Bowl: LXIII, scheduled for February 2029, making Las Vegas one of only a handful of cities to host back-to-back Super Bowls within the same decade.
Beyond the NFL, the stadium is home to UNLV Rebels football and hosts the annual Las Vegas Bowl. It has also welcomed neutral-site college football matchups, the CONCACAF Gold Cup Final, and high-profile boxing cards, including the Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford world championship fight in 2025.
The Concert and Entertainment Machine
If anything rivals Allegiant Stadium’s football credentials, it’s its concert resume. Billboard has ranked it among the highest-grossing stadiums in the United States in consecutive recent years, with artists who have headlined including Garth Brooks, The Rolling Stones, Guns N’ Roses, Taylor Swift, BTS, Beyoncé, Paul McCartney, Kendrick Lamar, AC/DC, and Coldplay, among many others.
WrestleMania 41 (April 2025) was another landmark: the two-night event set an all-time WWE revenue and gate record, generating more than $66 million in combined ticket sales and drawing well over 100,000 fans across the two nights, cementing Allegiant’s status as one of the top touring venues in the world.
Getting Tickets and Booking a Stadium Tour
Raiders game tickets and concert tickets are sold through the team, artist, and event promoters, primarily via Ticketmaster, with a secondary resale market on sites like StubHub and Vivid Seats for sold-out dates. Prices swing widely by opponent, artist, and how close you buy to the event, so there’s no fixed ‘normal’ price to quote — check the listing directly for current availability.
If you just want to see the building itself, Allegiant Stadium runs public guided tours roughly 75 minutes long, covering areas such as the broadcast booth, private suites and clubs, the Raiders locker room, and the Al Davis Memorial Torch (exact stops vary by day and stadium schedule). Tours typically go on sale online about twelve weeks ahead of the date, and there’s also a pregame ‘Countdown to Kickoff’ tour option on Raiders game days. For current tour dates, prices, and group bookings, use the official Allegiant Stadium tours page.
Seating Chart and Best Views
Allegiant Stadium’s bowl is split into 100-level, 200-level, and 300-level sections wrapping the horseshoe, with 100-level seats closest to the field and the upper 300-level rows offering the best full-bowl view of the open end and Strip skyline beyond. Premium options include loge boxes, club seats, and suites, which typically bundle in-seat service, climate-controlled lounges, and dedicated entrances.
Because the seating bowl is column-free, sightlines are strong from nearly every section, and the north end and south end (near the torch and the retractable grass tray’s exit point) each offer a distinct vantage point. For an interactive, seat-level view before you buy, use the official seating chart tool.
Planning Your Visit: Parking, Getting There, and Bag Policy
Allegiant Stadium sits just west of the Strip, and many visitors walk over via the Hacienda Avenue pedestrian bridge in roughly 10-15 minutes. For driving, on-site lots (Lots A through J and several offsite options) support both parking and tailgating, and advance passes can be booked through SpotHero or MGM Resorts’ Park Mobile platform; EV charging is available in select lots. Rideshare pickup/drop-off is centered on Lot N off Dean Martin Drive, with additional pickup points at nearby resorts, and the RTC Game Day Express bus service runs dedicated routes from several Las Vegas casinos on Raiders game days.
The stadium is cashless, so bring a card, and its bag policy follows the NFL’s clear-bag standard: bags must be clear plastic, vinyl, or PVC and no larger than about 12″ x 6″ x 12″, or a small clutch under roughly 4.5″ x 6.5″ x 2″; backpacks, coolers, and non-clear bags are not allowed, though paid bag check is available near the gates. Gates for Raiders games generally open several hours before kickoff, but exact hours, prices, and policies shift by event, so always confirm details on the official Allegiant Stadium website before you go.
Allegiant Stadium visitor guide FAQs
Why is Allegiant Stadium called the Death Star?
Its all-black exterior, dark ETFE glass panels, and silver trim gave it a sci-fi look that fans nicknamed the ‘Death Star’ before it even opened in 2020, and the name has stuck as an unofficial nickname for the stadium ever since.
How many people does Allegiant Stadium hold?
Allegiant Stadium seats roughly 65,000 for Raiders games and can expand to around 71,800 for concerts, boxing cards, and other non-football events.
Can you tour Allegiant Stadium without going to a game?
Yes. The stadium runs public guided tours, typically about 75 minutes long, that take visitors through areas like the broadcast booth, locker rooms, and the Al Davis Memorial Torch; tickets go on sale online roughly twelve weeks in advance through the official Allegiant Stadium tours page.
Can you walk to Allegiant Stadium from the Las Vegas Strip?
Yes, it’s a popular option — the Hacienda Avenue pedestrian bridge connects the Strip to the stadium grounds in about 10-15 minutes on foot.
What is the bag policy at Allegiant Stadium?
Allegiant Stadium follows a clear-bag policy: allowed bags are clear plastic, vinyl, or PVC up to about 12″ x 6″ x 12″ (or a one-gallon clear freezer bag), plus small clutches under roughly 4.5″ x 6.5″ x 2″. Backpacks, coolers, and non-clear bags aren’t permitted, though paid bag check is available.
When is the next Super Bowl at Allegiant Stadium?
Allegiant Stadium hosted Super Bowl LVIII in February 2024 and is confirmed to host Super Bowl LXIII in February 2029.
How does the grass field work inside a domed stadium?
The entire natural-grass playing surface sits on a massive tray, roughly 19 million pounds, that rolls out of the stadium’s south end on powered wheels so the grass can get sunlight and water, then rolls back inside before games — a trip that takes about an hour each way.
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