Las Vegas Raiders

• 1. Introduction

  ›

  The Las Vegas Raiders were nearly called the Oakland Señors. On the 4th of April 1960, that was the name announced as the winner of a naming contest run by the Oakland Tribune. After a few days of local ridicule and accusations that the contest had been rigged by managing partner Chet Soda, who was well known for calling people "señor," the owners changed course. The name that had finished third in the contest, the Raiders, became official nine days later. That early zigzag captures something essential about this franchise. For more than six decades, the Raiders have moved cities, changed identities, fought the NFL in court, and produced some of the most memorable football in the sport's history. How did a struggling team that lost $500,000 in its first season become a three-time Super Bowl champion? Who was the singular figure who shaped its culture, its tactics, and its very color scheme? And why does a franchise now playing in a domed stadium in Nevada still inspire one of the most devoted fan bases in professional sports?

• 2. Al Davis and the Silver Standard

  ›

  At 33, Al Davis became the youngest person in over 30 years to hold the position of head coach in professional football when Valley hired him after the 1962 season. He was also the youngest general manager, of any kind, in the sport's history. Davis had been an assistant at the San Diego Chargers under Sid Gillman, and he brought Gillman's West Coast offense to Oakland under his own label: the "vertical game." His first act of organizational theater was to change the team's colors from black and gold to silver and black. The Raiders went from a 1-13 disaster in 1962 to a 10-4 turnaround in Davis's first season, earning him AFL Coach of the Year honors. Davis also coined the phrases "Pride and Poise," "Commitment to Excellence," and "Just Win, Baby" - all of which became registered trademarks of the franchise. In April 1966, Davis left to become AFL Commissioner, but the merger with the NFL made that job obsolete within two months. On the 25th of July 1966, he returned to the team as a part-owner, purchasing a 10 percent interest for $18,000. He owned the team outright from 1972 until his death in 2011, a period in which he built a franchise that would win fifteen division titles.

• 3. Three Championships

  ›

  John Madden took over as the sixth head coach in 1969 and guided the Raiders to seven AFC West division titles over ten seasons without ever posting a losing record. His squads included future Hall of Famers Jim Otto, Gene Upshaw, Art Shell, Fred Biletnikoff, Cliff Branch, Dave Casper, and Ken Stabler. The team's first Super Bowl win came in 1976 under Madden, a 32-14 defeat of the Minnesota Vikings at the Rose Bowl, with wide receiver Fred Biletnikoff named the game's MVP after catching four passes for 79 yards. A 75-yard interception return by cornerback Willie Brown in the fourth quarter sealed it. After Madden left for a television career in 1979, Tom Flores, the first Hispanic head coach in NFL history, took over. Flores guided the Raiders to their second championship in Super Bowl XV in New Orleans, a 27-10 win over the Philadelphia Eagles, making the Raiders the first wild card team ever to win a Super Bowl. Defensive back Lester Hayes had recorded 18 interceptions during the regular and post season that year. Flores delivered a third title in Super Bowl XVIII at Tampa Stadium, a 38-9 demolition of the Washington Redskins in which running back Marcus Allen set a Super Bowl record with 191 rushing yards and scored on a 74-yard run in the fourth quarter after reversing his route.

• 4. The Legal Battle to Leave Oakland

  ›

  Before the 1980 season, Davis signed a memorandum of agreement to move the Raiders from Oakland to Los Angeles, and NFL owners voted 22-0 against the move. When Davis attempted it anyway, he was stopped by an injunction. Rather than concede, the Raiders joined an antitrust lawsuit filed by the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, which had lost its own tenant, the Los Angeles Rams, to Anaheim. After a first mistrial, a second jury in May 1982 found in favor of Davis and the Coliseum, clearing the move. Davis was unapologetic, telling critics: "Sure, I expected the Oakland fans to get angry at me. But I don't remember any of them parading on the Oakland Coliseum, saying 'Give him what he wants. In their mind, it's their team. In my mind, it's not.'" The Los Angeles years produced Hall of Famers Marcus Allen, Howie Long, and Mike Haynes, alongside multisport athlete Bo Jackson. Jackson's career in both the NFL and Major League Baseball ended when his left femur was ripped from the socket in a 1990 playoff tackle, though he continued playing baseball until 1994. Davis eventually grew frustrated with the 93,000-seat Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, which rarely filled, triggering television blackouts, and which lacked the luxury suites he had been promised. In August 1987, the city of Irwindale, California paid him $10 million as a deposit on a prospective stadium site. Davis kept the deposit even after abandoning the bid.

• 5. Notorious Plays and Lasting Rules

  ›

  On the 17th of November 1968, NBC cut away from an Oakland-New York Jets game to broadcast the television film Heidi just as the Raiders scored two late touchdowns to win 43-32. The millions of viewers who missed the comeback made the incident famous enough to reshape broadcast standards. A decade later, on the 10th of September 1978, quarterback Ken Stabler intentionally fumbled forward with seconds left against the San Diego Chargers. A teammate dove for the ball and shoveled it closer to the end zone, where tight end Dave Casper then kicked it to himself for a 21-20 touchdown. The play, known as the "Holy Roller," prompted the NFL to outlaw any player other than the fumbler from advancing the ball in the final two minutes. Radio voice Bill King's call of that play has been cited as one of the five best in NFL history. In 1972, what appeared to be a Raiders victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Divisional round became something else entirely when Franco Harris caught a deflected pass for a 13-7 Pittsburgh win in what became known as the "Immaculate Reception." In 2001, a disputed ruling that Tom Brady had "tucked" the ball rather than fumbled gave the New England Patriots a chance to tie a playoff game, and they won in overtime 16-13. The play led to the eventual elimination of the tuck rule entirely.

• 6. Raider Nation and Its Culture

  ›

  Al Davis coined the phrase Raider Nation in 1968. The fan identity that grew around it is inseparable from the team's image: face masks, black outfits, tailgating, and the area of Oakland Coliseum sections 104-107 known as the Black Hole, where the team's most fervent fans gathered from 1995 through 2019. Rapper Ice Cube recorded a song called "Raider Nation" for the team in September 2009, and in 2012 wrote a second song, "Come and Get It," as part of Pepsi's NFL Anthems campaign. In 2010, Al Davis participated in an ESPN 30 for 30 documentary, Straight Outta L.A., which explored the connection between N.W.A. and the Raiders' image and culture. The team's iconic logo, a helmeted pirate wearing an eye patch, was commissioned by the first Director of Public Relations, Gene Lawrence Perry, and modeled on the "firm chin" of Western film actor Randolph Scott. The silver and black uniform design Davis introduced in 1963 has remained essentially unchanged, making it one of the most recognizable kits in professional sports. The cheerleading squad, established in 1961 as the Oakland Raiderettes, has continued under that franchise through every city. Poem "The Autumn Wind," written by NFL Films co-founder Steve Sabol and narrated by John Facenda, was first used in the team's 1974 yearbook film and remains the unofficial team anthem.

• 7. The Move to Las Vegas

  ›

  In late January 2016, billionaire Sheldon Adelson, president and CEO of the Las Vegas Sands Corporation, proposed a domed stadium in Las Vegas. He reached out to the Raiders almost immediately. In April 2016, owner Mark Davis pledged $500 million toward the project if public officials would contribute. Nevada's legislature approved a $750 million public subsidy in October 2016. On the 27th of March 2017, NFL owners voted 31-1 to approve the relocation, and ground was broken on Allegiant Stadium on the 13th of November 2017. On the 22nd of January 2020, the Raiders officially moved to Las Vegas. The team's final game as a California franchise, on the 29th of December 2019, ended in a 16-15 loss to the Denver Broncos. The Raiders now play in the 65,000-seat Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nevada, sharing it with the UNLV Rebels football program. In December 2024, the franchise became one of the first NFL teams to sell an equity stake to outside private equity investors. Tom Brady and his business partner Tom Wagner of Knighthead Capital acquired a 10 percent ownership stake for $220 million, valuing the franchise at $3.5 billion. Brady paid an additional 10 percent in fees to other league owners as part of the terms. In January 2025, former Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll was hired as head coach, becoming, at age 73, the oldest head coach in NFL history upon coaching his first game.