NW Valley Times

Andrew Hudgins relishes his new title in stadium operations for the Las Vegas Raiders. Hudgins wisely heeded the advice of a planner before Super Bowl LVIII in February.

At about 5 a.m. – more than 10 hours before kickoff – Hudgins climbed to the top row of Allegiant Stadium to ponder the transformation of his hometown and his young but eventful career.

“Being able to have that moment and reflection of thinking back to all the previous experiences and everything I’ve done to get me to this moment, it’s pretty special,” Hudgins said. “To be able to do it in my hometown, it’s something I’ll never forget, for sure.”

Hudgins grew up in Las Vegas – home of the Las Vegas Raiders and their 65,000-seat stadium that also hosts other major events. But when Hudgins left to attend Grand Canyon University (GCU) in 2014, his hometown had yet to experience a growth spurt as a major sports town.

In the last 10 years, the massive expansion of Las Vegas, coupled with the experience Hudgins gained with the Sports and Entertainment Business Club at GCU, major league spring training, and the Oakland Athletics, lined up perfectly for him to take over as senior manager of stadium operations for the Raiders.

“It’s incredible to see the trajectory of things,” said Hudgins, who graduated from GCU in 2016 with a bachelor’s degree in sports management. “When I attended GCU, there weren’t the major sports attractions (in Vegas). There was Triple-A baseball and (NBA) Summer League and rodeo in town. But that was primarily it, and now in a short decade it exploded to the NFL, NHL, WNBA, and hopefully major league baseball and NBA will follow suit.”

Hudgins’ duties deal primarily with implementing gameday setup for the Raiders. Because they own Allegiant Stadium, they have more input into day-to-day operations – especially when hosting other events. Hudgins and his colleagues work with ASM Global, a venue and concert management company, to provide an optimal fan experience.

In addition to Raiders home games and the Super Bowl, Allegiant Stadium has hosted concerts, soccer matches, UNLV football games, and college football bowl games.

“Our game weeks start when the clock hits zero from the game before,” Hudgins said. “We’re already moving forward into thinking that next week and what’s going on. The offseason deals a lot with preplanning and making sure systems, programs and processes are in place so if we have to adjust on game week or game day on-the-fly we have resources.”

Hudgins learned versatility at GCU through hands-on perspectives which multiplied tenfold when he entered workforce. Sports event planning classes were instrumental in understanding gameday processes.

His desire to be a “jack-of-all trades” paid off as part of GCU's Sports Entertainment Business Club where he volunteered at various events including golf courses or assisting at Jerry Colangelo Classic or Suns/Diamondbacks events.

“I just wanted put my foot door everywhere find niche market industry would then being able pull full-time career,” said Hudgins continuing learn every stop way being sponge absorb much knowledge information possible.”

Hudgins praised Joe Pun director spring training business operations Oakland Athletics during internship empowerment provided students learning facets operating not just business but gameday experience well serving on GCU Sports Business Advisory Board.

Hudgins hired spring training events coordinator A’s next three springs moving Oakland serve full-time stadium operations/events assistant 2017 sharing Oakland Alameda County Coliseum complex indirectly opening door return home join Raiders moved Vegas after 2019 season working full time one team helping friends another offseason former A’s colleague asked join gameday staff accepted offer moving making connections staying established elevating role now

Mark Gonzales can be reached at [email protected]