Las Vegas is the host for Super Bowl 58 as the Kansas City Chiefs take on the San Francisco 49ers in the final game of the 2023-24 NFL season. The game will be played in Allegiant Stadium, which is the home of the Las Vegas Raiders.
The Raiders are owned by Mark Davis, who moved the team to Las Vegas in 2020 after a long stint in Oakland, Calif. Mark is the son of the previous owner, Al Davis, who passed away in 2011.
The Al Davis Era for the Raiders Franchise
Few people have done it the way that Al Davis did for the Raiders. He is the only executive in NFL history to be an assistant coach, head coach, general manager, commissioner, and owner in history.
He had a 23-16 record as the Oakland Raiders coach from 1963 to 1965. Off the field, he was involved in the civil rights movement.
Al refused to play in any city where the players had separate hotels. He was also the first owner to hire an African-American coach (Art Shell), a female chief executive (Amy Trask), and the first owner to hire a Latino head coach (Tom Flores).
In 1981, the Raiders became the first ever Wild Card team to win a Super Bowl, as they defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 27-10 in Super Bowl 15. The Raiders won three Super Bowls during his time with the Raiders: in 1977, 1981, and 1984.
They got back only one time after that — in 2003 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Buccaneers were coached by Jon Gruden, who Al had just traded to Tampa Bay for a stash of draft picks. The Buccaneers won Super Bowl 37, 48-21, and that was the start of the downfall of the Raiders.
That loss started a run of seven consecutive seasons with double-digit losses from 2003-2009. The team started going through different coaches, and then in 2007 drafted quarterback JaMarcus Russell in a move that is considered arguably the biggest bust in NFL history.
Davis passed away in 2011, and that is when his wife Carol and son Mark became the owners.
Mark Davis Moves Team Out of Oakland
One of the first things Mark did when he became owner was work on getting the team a new stadium. The Raiders had shared the Oakland Athletics stadium, and neither league loved that.
Initially, Mark talked about wanting to keep the team in Oakland, but talks started to go awry. In 2015, he announced the Raiders would try and propose a shared stadium with the then-San Diego Chargers in Carson, Calif.
However, the Rams owner Stan Kroenke was also trying to move his team, and Kroenke’s proposal to build a team in Inglewood was picked.
Even while proposing to move to Carson, Mark was still considering staying in Oakland. The final straw was when the city of Oakland raised the rent on Mark, and that was what made him begin the plan to move to Las Vegas.
In March 2017, the NFL approved the move to Las Vegas by a vote of 31-1, with the Miami Dolphins being the only team to vote against it.
New Era in Las Vegas
The Raiders officially opened up Allegiant Stadium in 2020 and started playing their games that season. It hasn’t been the smoothest of rides in Las Vegas, as they have made the playoffs only once since the move. They made the postseason in 2021 and lost to the Cincinnati Bengals in the first round.
While the Raiders haven’t started winning consistently yet, Mark does have a powerhouse team in Las Vegas.
KEEP READING: Mark Davis’ Net Worth — How Did the Raiders Owner Make His Money?
In 2021, he bought the Las Vegas Aces of the WNBA. He hired Becky Hammon on New Year’s Eve 2021, and the team has gone on to win back-to-back WNBA titles.
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