Raider Nation is the official name for the fans of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL)'s Las Vegas Raiders (formerly the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

and the Los Angeles Raiders). Fan Jim Hudson coined the term in the 1990s when the Raiders returned to Oakland after a long hiatus in Los Angeles, thus becoming a team with a regional fanbase. The team's fans devotion is chronicled in ''Better to Reign in Hell'', a book written by

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

English professor Jim Miller and Kelly Mayhew, who are Raiders fans.

Characteristics

The city of Oakland's working-class background and "underdog status" compared to its neighboring city of

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

is cited as the foundation of the Raider Nation and its image, as is the influence of "outlaws" such as owner Al Davis and players like Ted Hendricks, John Matuszak, Bob Brown, Ken Stabler, Jack Tatum, and Lyle Alzado in creating a bad boy image. The team's aggressive style of play during the 1970s and 1980s, when the Raiders won their three

Super Bowls The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...

, is also mentioned. This perception did not change when the Raiders moved to Los Angeles, but the move did diversify their fan base to include more Latinos and African Americans, and the Raiders would become increasingly associated with West Coast

gangsta rap Gangsta rap or gangster rap, initially called reality rap, is a subgenre of rap music that conveys the culture, values, and experiences of urban gangs and street hustlers, frequently discussing unpleasant realities of the world in general th ...

groups like N.W.A or

Cypress Hill Cypress Hill is an American Hip hop music, hip hop group formed in South Gate, California in 1988. One of the first Latin groups to gain mainstream recognition in hip hop, they have sold over 20 million albums worldwide, and have obtained multi ...

during this period. Multiple heavy metal bands would also express their support for the team such as

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. It was formed in Los Angeles in 1981 by vocalist and guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

, Slayer, Testament, Machine Head,

Megadeth Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist and guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal—alo ...

, and more. This association would lead to the Raider Nation to grow a reputation as a gritty, intimidating notoriety amongst fans and celebrities alike; spreading across the country as fans express their longtime devotion to the team. Members of Raider Nation take pride in their image, and many of the most devoted Raiders fans dress up in elaborate costumes on game day. Many of these costumes are intended to be intimidating and eccentric while also adhering to the Raiders' silver and black color scheme, and many fans also create alter egos for these characters as well. These fans are typically the ones that are most associated with the Raider Nation and The Black Hole. Late actress and singer Naya Rivera was a notable fan, her brother Mychal has played tight end for the team between 2013 and 2016. Rapper

Ice Cube O'Shea Jackson Sr. (born June 15, 1969), known professionally as Ice Cube, is an American rapper, songwriter, actor, and film producer. His lyrics on N.W.A's 1989 album '' Straight Outta Compton'' contributed to gangsta rap's widespread popu ...

is one of their best known fans, having been a vocal supporter since the 1980s, he has written songs about the team and has appeared in many videos promoting the team. " The Autumn Wind", developed in 1974, has become the

fight song A fight song is a rousing short song associated with a sports team. The term is most common in the United States and Canada. In Australia, Mexico, and New Zealand, these songs are called the team anthem, team song, or games song. First associated ...

of Raider Nation and can be heard aloud at every game.

Notable fans

* 50 Cent * Alexander De Leon * Anthony Kiedis * Axl Rose * B Real * Billie Joe Armstrong * Blackie Lawless * Bray Wyatt *

Bret Hart Bret Sergeant Hart (born July 2, 1957) is a Canadian retired professional wrestler. A member of the Hart wrestling family and a second-generation wrestler, he has an amateur wrestling background at Ernest Manning High School and Mount Royal U ...

Carlos Santana Carlos Humberto Santana Barragán (; born July 20, 1947) is an American guitarist, best known as a founding member of the Rock music, rock band Santana (band), Santana. Born and raised in Mexico where he developed his musical background, he r ...

Carson Daly Carson Jones Daly (born June 22, 1973) is an American television host, radio personality, producer, and television personality. From 1998 to 2003, Daly was a VJ (media personality), VJ on MTV's ''Total Request Live'' (TRL), and a DJ for the Sou ...

* Chino Moreno * Chuck Billy * Dave Mustaine * Eazy E *

Eddie Van Halen Edward Lodewijk Van Halen ( , ; January 26, 1955 – October 6, 2020) was an American musician. He was the guitarist, keyboardist, backing vocalist and primary songwriter of the rock band Van Halen, which he founded with his brother Alex V ...

* Fieldy * Fred Durst * Gabriel Iglesias * George Lopez *

Guy Fieri Guy Ramsay Fieri (, ; Ferry; born January 22, 1968) is an American restaurateur, author, and an Emmy Award winning television presenter. He co-owned three now-defunct restaurants in California. He licenses his name to restaurants in cities a ...

* Hunter S. Thompson * Hudson Rua Mahoney *

Ice T The ICE T or ICE-T, consisting of DB Classes 411 and 415, are German tilting train, tilting electric multiple-unit high-speed trains in service with DB Fernverkehr serving routes within Germany and to Austria. Development Following the succe ...

* Ivan Moody * James Garner *

James Hetfield James Alan Hetfield (born August 3, 1963) is an American musician. He is the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, co-founder, and a primary songwriter of heavy metal band Metallica. He is mainly known for his raspy voice and intricate rhythm playi ...

* Jeff Hanneman *

Joe Satriani Joseph Satriani (born July 15, 1956)Prato, Greg"Joe Satriani – Music Biography, Credits and Discography". ''AllMusic''. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved May 28, 2014. is an American rock music, rock guitarist, composer, and songwriter. Early in hi ...

* Josephine Skriver * Kerry King *

Lars Frederiksen Lars Erik Frederiksen (born Lars Erik Dapello, August 30, 1971) is an American musician and record producer best known as a guitarist and vocalist for the punk rock band Rancid, as well as the frontman of Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards and ...

MC Hammer Stanley Kirk Burrell (born March 30, 1962), better known by his stage name MC Hammer (or simply Hammer), is an American rapper known for hit songs such as "U Can't Touch This", "2 Legit 2 Quit", and "Pumps and a Bump", flashy dance movements, e ...

* Mick Thomson * Naya Rivera * Neal Schon * Robb Flynn * Ronda Rousey * Sen Dog * Shannon Larkin *

Shavo Odadjian Shavarsh "Shavo" Odadjian (; born April 22, 1974) is an Armenian-American musician, best known as the bassist of nu metal band System of a Down. He also plays bass in a Trap music, trap group called North Kingsley and in the metal band Seven Hou ...

* Snow Tha Product * Steve Aoki *

Tiger Woods Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in List of golfers with most PGA Tour wins, PGA Tour wins, ranks second in List of men's major championships winning golfers, men's m ...

Tom Hanks Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...

* Tommy Shaw * Zoltan Bathory * Yukmouth * Jay Briscoe

References

External links

Ice Cube Revisits L.A. Raiders Glory DaysOrigins of the Original Raider Nation Website as created by Jim HudsonRaider Nation: Behind the Makeup
{{Las Vegas Raiders Las Vegas Raiders Spectators of American football Culture of Las Vegas Culture of Los Angeles Culture of Oakland, California

Characteristics

Notable fans

See also

References

External links