04 October 2023 , 12:22
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Footage has emerged of two ugly fights at Sunday's NFL game between the Los Angeles Chargers and Las Vegas Raiders, with a season marred by violence among spectators continuing.
Fighting between fans, both inside and outside of the stadium, has been a theme of the opening four weeks of the campaign, with gruesome brawls taking place at the Cincinnati Bengals' Paul Brown Stadium and the San Francisco 49ers Levi's Stadium among a series of skirmishes.
And two more incidents were captured on camera at SoFi Stadium on Sunday as the Chargers edged out their AFC West rivals the Raiders 24-17 to improve to 2-2 on the season.
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As the action played out on the field, fans tangled in the crowd. In one incident, a man in a Justin Herbert Chargers jersey clashed with a man in a number-75 Raiders jersey made famous by franchise legend Howie Long.
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After getting into an argument, the Chargers fan launched a right hand into the man's face, sending him to the ground. He got back to his feet and continued fighting until they were eventually separated by other fans, with no security in the vicinity.
Elsewhere at the same game, two women were filmed slinging insults back and forth, telling each other to "shut the f*** up". A woman wearing a Maxx Crosby Raiders jersey then rained down with slaps and punches to the face of the other woman, who was not wearing a team jersey, before fans intervened.
Two women clashed in the stands at SoFi Stadium on Sunday. (Twitter)
A Raiders fan was sent flying to the ground after being punched by a Chargers fan on Sunday. (PillarsPullup/Twitter)Those were not the only incidents either. As the stadium started to empty at the end of the game, around a dozen spectators brawled in yet another ugly incident for the NFL to deal with.
The Chargers, based in San Diego until 2020, have one of the smallest fanbases in the NFL, meaning their home games typically see huge numbers of travelling fans supporting the away team in attendance.
The Raiders have since moved across the border from Oakland to Sin City in Nevada, but the team retains massive support from its heartland in California, and there were many silver and black jerseys in the stands at SoFi on Sunday.
And with no segregation between teams in the bleachers, flashpoints between fans seem an inevitable consequence, meaning it is unlikely the stream of videos posted on social media every Sunday of violence in NFL stadiums will relent any time soon.
For many, the video clips have become a source of entertainment, but but it is an issue the league and its 32 teams will be eager to stamp out.