DC ExtraTime: It's a Vegas Fight Night on Raiders Opening Night

*** CAUTION: Videos Embedded Below Contain Content Not Suitable for a Younger Audience. Parental Guidance is Suggested. ***

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

In a few short years, a city that had long been sitting on the sidelines has emerged into the big time as the new hub of American sports, although it had already forged a reputation for the world's fight capital. Las Vegas, Nevada's place of being in the desert and as the epicenter of American gambling has long placed it on the outs for major sports outside of boxing, UFC, college sports and events ranging from rodeos to auto racing. But changing attitudes regarding one of its biggest draws -- sports betting, along with Southern Nevada being among the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in America and it being a top tourist destination, saw the flood-gates open to Sin City to finally join the big time.

Four years ago next month, the Golden Knights became the first major pro sports franchise to call Vegas home when they took to the ice as the National Hockey League's thirty-first franchise, but it couldn't come at a more poignant time. An emotional home opener on October 10, 2017 came ten days after the deadly massacre at the Route 91 music festival just less than a mile from T-Mobile Arena, and that highly-charged night marked the beginning of a historic inaugural season that saw the Knights make the Stanley Cup Final in their first try. And the Golden Knights have become consistent contenders for hockey's holy grail ever since, making the playoffs in each of their first four seasons in the NHL.

While the pride of Canadian sport has been continuing its growth in the U.S. thanks to both the NHL's expansion in the last three decades and as a cornerstone of the Winter Olympics, ice hockey is trumped by the popularity of the National Football League. There's no denying the tremendous power of the most-popular sport in the world's most-coveted sporting & entertainment market... but until recently the NFL had somewhat different feelings about legal betting on its games -- after all, you wouldn't go to a casino on autumn Sundays seeing fans huddled around TV sets to watch every game like we do in our living rooms. But two things changed everything for the better.