The Las Vegas Raiders are a professional American football team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Raiders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team plays its home games at Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nevada, and is headquartered in Henderson, Nevada.
Founded on January 30, 1960, and originally based in Oakland, California, the Oakland Raiders played their first regular season game on September 11, 1960, as a charter member of the American Football League (AFL). They moved to the NFL with the AFL–NFL merger in 1970. The team was almost chosen under the nickname "Señors" when established, as close to the team sporting the "Oakland Señors" team name is the original idea of the orange and black team theme colors, that were discontinued as well. The team departed Oakland to play in Los Angeles from the 1982 season through the 1994 season (as the Los Angeles Raiders) before returning to Oakland at the start of the 1995 season. On March 27, 2017, NFL team owners voted nearly unanimously to approve the Raiders' application to move to the Las Vegas metropolitan area. They played their last game as a California–based franchise on December 29, 2019. On January 22, 2020, the Raiders relocated to the Las Vegas area.
The Raiders' on-field fortunes have varied considerably over the years. The team's first three years of operation were marred by poor performance, financial difficulties, and spotty attendance. In 1963, the Raiders' fortunes improved dramatically with the introduction of head coach (and eventual owner and general manager) Al Davis. Since 1963, the team has won 15 division titles (3 AFL and 12 NFL), one AFL championship (1967), four AFC championships (1976, 1980, 1983, and 2002), and three Super Bowl championships: XI (1976), XV (1980), and XVIII (1983). As of the end of the NFL's 2024 season, the Raiders have an all-time regular season record of 509 wins, 480 losses, and 11 ties; their all-time playoff record currently stands at 25 wins and 20 losses.
Al Davis owned the team from 1972 until his death in 2011. Control of the franchise was then given to Al's son Mark Davis, with Al's wife Carol maintaining ownership. The Raiders are known for their extensive fan base and distinctive team culture. The Raiders have had 17 former players who have been enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame as well as two former coaches and Al Davis. They have previously played at Kezar Stadium and Candlestick Park in San Francisco, Frank Youell Field and the Oakland Coliseum in Oakland, and the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles.
In December 2024, the Raiders were among the first teams in NFL history to sell an ownership stake to outside private equity investors. 15% of the franchise was sold, which includes Tom Brady and his business partner, Tom Wagner of Knighthead Capital, gaining a 10% ownership stake.
History
Oakland (1960–1981)
The city of Oakland, California was awarded the eighth American Football League (AFL) franchise on January 30, 1960. Upon receiving the franchise, a meeting of local civic leaders and businessmen was called, chaired by former U.S. Senator William Fife Knowland of California, editor of the Oakland Tribune. The gathering found a number of businessmen willing to invest in the new team. A limited partnership was formed to own the team headed by managing general partner Y. Charles (Chet) Soda, a local real estate developer, and included general partners Ed McGah, Oakland City Councilman Robert Osborne, F. Wayne Valley, restaurateur Harvey Binns, 1928 Olympic gold medalist Donald Blessing, and contractor Charles Harney, the builder of San Francisco's Candlestick Park, built on a bleak parcel of land he owned; the road leading to the stadium is known as Harney Way.
A "name the team" contest was held by the Oakland Tribune, and the winner was announced April 4, 1960, as the Oakland Señors."Grid Team Named-- They're Senors", Oakland Tribune, April 5, 1960, p37. Soda said, "My own personal choice would have been Mavericks, but I believe we came up with a real fine name." The selection committee narrowed the choices down to Admirals, Lakers, Diablos, Seawolves, Gauchos, Nuggets, Señors Dons, Costers, Grandees, Sequoias, Missiles, Knights, Redwoods, Clippers, Jets and Dolphins. After a few days of being the butt of local jokes (and accusations that the contest was fixed, as Soda was fairly well known within the Oakland business community for calling his acquaintances "señor"), the fledgling team (and its owners) changed the team's name nine days later"Now It's Hi, Raiders! (Bye, Senors)", Oakland Tribune, April 14, 1960, p1 to the Oakland Raiders, which had finished third in the naming contest.Dickey, Just Win, Baby, p. 8. The original team colors were black, gold and white. The now-familiar team emblem of a pirate (or "raider") wearing a football helmet was created, reportedly a rendition of actor Randolph Scott.Otto, The Pain of Glory, p. 69.
1960–1966 When the University of California refused to let the Raiders play home games at Memorial Stadium in Berkeley, they chose Kezar Stadium in San Francisco as their home field. The Raiders were allowed to move to Candlestick Park for the final three home games of the 1960 season after gaining the approval of San Francisco's Recreation and Park Commission, marking the first time that professional football would be played at the new stadium.Oakland Tribune, , November 24, 1960 (No. 147), p. 57. The Tribune article covering the result of the first Raiders game at Candlestick appeared in the , continued on The San Francisco 49ers would not move into Candlestick Park until the 1971 season. The change of venue, however, failed to attract larger crowds. The Raiders finished their first campaign with a 6–8 record, and lost $500,000, equivalent to $ million in . Desperately in need of money to continue running the team, Valley received a $400,000 loan from Buffalo Bills founder Ralph Wilson, equivalent to $ million in .
After the conclusion of the first season Soda dropped out of the partnership, and on January 17, 1961, Valley, McGah and Osborne bought out the remaining four general partners. Soon after, Valley and McGah purchased Osborne's interest, with Valley named as the managing general partner. Valley threatened to move the Raiders out of the area unless a stadium was built in Oakland, but in 1962 the Raiders moved into 18,000-seat Frank Youell Field (later expanded to 22,000 seats), their first home in Oakland.Dickey, Just Win, Baby, p. 10. It was a temporary home for the team while the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum was under construction. Under Marty Feldman and Red Conkright—the team's second and third head coaches since entering the AFL—the Raiders finished 1–13 in 1962, losing their first 13 games (and making for a 19–game losing streak from 1961 and 1962) before winning the season finale, and attendance remained low.
After the 1962 season, Valley hired Al Davis, a former assistant coach of the San Diego Chargers, as head coach and general manager. At 33, he was the youngest person in over 30 years to hold the position of head coach, and the youngest person ever to hold the position of general manager, in professional football. Davis immediately changed the team colors to silver and black, and began to implement what he termed the "vertical game", an aggressive offensive strategy based on the West Coast offense developed by Chargers head coach Sid Gillman. Under Davis, the Raiders improved to 10–4, and he was named the AFL's Coach of the Year in 1963. Though the team slipped to 5–7–2 in 1964, it rebounded to an 8–5–1 record in 1965. He also initiated the use of team slogans such as "Pride and Poise", "Commitment to Excellence", and "Just Win, Baby"—all of which are registered trademarks.
In April 1966, Davis left the Raiders after being named AFL Commissioner. Two months later, the league announced its merger with the NFL. With the merger, the position of commissioner was no longer needed, and Davis entered into discussions with Valley about returning to the Raiders. On July 25, 1966, Davis returned as part-owner of the team. He purchased a 10 percent interest in the team for $18,000, , and became the team's third general partner—the partner in charge of football operations.
1967: AFL champions On the field, the team Davis had assembled and coached steadily improved. With John Rauch (Davis's hand-picked successor) as head coach and quarterback Daryle Lamonica, the Raiders finished the 1967 season with a 13–1 record and won the 1967 AFL Championship, defeating the Houston Oilers 40–7.
The win earned the team a trip to Super Bowl II at the Orange Bowl, where they were defeated 33–14 by Vince Lombardi's Green Bay Packers. Both of Oakland's touchdowns were scored on receptions by wide receiver Bill Miller.
1968–1975 On November 17, 1968, Oakland scored two touchdowns in the final minute to defeat the New York Jets 43–32. However, NBC, decided to break away from its coverage to broadcast the television film Heidi, which caused many viewers to miss the Raiders' comeback. Oakland ended the 1968 season with a 12–2 record; defeating the Chiefs 41–6 in a tiebreaker playoff before losing 27–23 to the Jets in the AFL Championship Game.
In 1969, John Madden became the team's sixth head coach, and under him the Raiders became one of the most successful franchises in the NFL. It was during Madden's tenure that the Raiders forged an image as a team of tough, take-no-prisoners players—such as future Hall of Fame offensive linemen Jim Otto, Gene Upshaw, and Art Shell; linebacker Ted ("the Stork") Hendricks; defensive end Ben Davidson; and defensive backs Jack ("the Assassin") Tatum, George Atkinson, and Skip ("Dr. Death") Thomas—who would occasionally cross the line into dirty play. Those teams also featured future Hall of Fame players in kicker George Blanda, tight end Dave ("the Ghost") Casper, and wide receivers Fred Biletnikoff and Cliff Branch, as well as fiery quarterback Ken ("the Snake") Stabler.
In 1970, the AFL–NFL merger took place and the Raiders became part of the Western Division of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the newly merged NFL. In 1972, with Wayne Valley out of the country for several weeks attending the Olympic Games in Munich, Davis's attorneys drafted a revised partnership agreement that gave him total control over all of the Raiders' operations. McGah, a supporter of Davis, signed the agreement. Under partnership law, by a 2–1 vote of the general partners, the new agreement was thus ratified. Valley was furious when he discovered this, and immediately filed suit to have the new agreement overturned, but the court sided with Davis and McGah.
Madden's first Raiders squad went 12–1–1 in 1969, but lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in the last-ever AFL Championship Game, 17–7. This would become a frustrating trend during Madden's coaching career. Oakland won seven AFC West division titles and always played to a winning record during his ten seasons as head coach, but they also lost in six AFL / AFC Championship Games. One of the most frustrating playoff defeats came in 1972, when what appeared to be a last-minute AFC Divisional round victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers instead became a part of football lore when Franco Harris' "Immaculate Reception" gave Pittsburgh a 13–7 win.