Raiders excite Monday Night Football in Mexico with win over Texans

SAN LEANDRO, Calif. (KTVU) - The Oakland Raiders went south of the border for Monday night football in Mexico City and pulled out a 27-20 victory over the Houston Texans.

"This is the first regular season game Monday Night Football ever in the history that's outside of the United States, so it's pretty exciting," said Chris Dobbins, a lifelong Raiders fan and president of Save Oakland Sports, a group dedicated to keeping the Raiders and other professional sports teams in Oakland.

Fans who couldn't fly down to Mexico for the game filled up seats at local sports bars.

"I think that's pretty cool. I actually wanted to go but the tickets sold out pretty fast," said Eliana Galvan of Fremont who snagged a seat at Ricky's Sports Bar in San Leandro, a longtime favorite for Raiders fans.

The bar is lined with display cases and framed Raider jerseys, an Oakland Raiders museum of memorabilia from the team's history in the Bay Area.

The silver and black faithful were fired up and riled up.

Many had signs with a not so subtle message to owner Mark Davis, who wants to move the team to Las Vegas.

"We have these signs "Stay in Oakland" and on the back side, "Quedate en Oakland" in Spanish keep it stay in Oakland. We want the NFL to know. And I know Mr. Davis has seen this. ESPN has talked about it today," said Dobbins.

Former Raiders wide receiver Kenny Shedd was in the crowd and knows firsthand how important fans are to the players.

"I played with three other teams and they have strong followings but nothing like this, you can't match the fans, the spirit and it's like a religion to these guys," said Kenny Shedd, a former Raiders wide receiver  from 1996-1999.

Raiders fans are keeping the faith, praying for a spot in the playoffs and praying for the NFL owners to vote in January to keep the team in Oakland.

"We want to see them here. We want to see them at home. This is their home. They belong here in Oakland," said Anthony Galvan of Hayward.

"They belong here in the Bay Area. They have such a great history. They should stay here," said Patrick Sing of Alameda.

"This is their place, this is their home. this is the raiders home," said Alex Hollins of San Leandro.

The "Stay in Oakland" signs were also written in Spanish "Quedate en Oakland" and distributed at the game in Mexico City.

Organizers say they are hoping to get as many people to sign their petition, so they can keep the pressure on the NFL owners before they vote.