Raiders Break Another Hiring Barrier By Appointing First Black Woman NFL Team President; Sandra Douglass Morgan Was Former Nevada Gaming Control Board Chairwoman
By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
The Las Vegas Raiders made history again with their latest management hire.
Raiders owner Mark Davis announced Thursday that the team’s new president is Sandra Douglass Morgan, the former Nevada Gaming Control Board chairwoman who is the first Black woman team president in the NFL.
Morgan said “challenges” await and nothing will be “swept under the rug.” She said the staff turnover rate is the challenge and she has already met some office employees today.
“Look, it’s really no secret that there’s been some reports about turnover. My number one goal is to meet with each and every employee, which I had an opportunity to meet the employees, many of them, this morning and making sure that our Raider family is strong,” she said.
“Our house will be strong, will be in order to ensure that we can continue to benefit and provide world-class entertainment for this community.”
Douglass Morgan replaces former team president Marc Badain who left the Raiders a year ago and the interim president, Dan Ventrelle, who was fired in May.
Davis said the search has taken 10 months and that Douglass Morgan was recommended from several people. Davis told LVSportsBiz.com that Ventrelle played an interim role and was never team president.
LVSportsBiz.com asked Douglass Morgan about her reference to challenges — and then Davis gave a zinger to LVSportsBiz.com after her answers:
The Raiders have a reputation of breaking hiring barriers.
For example, the NFL’s first Hispanic starting quarterback was the Raiders’ Tom Flores in 1960 before he was the first Hispanic head coach in 1979.
The Raiders named Art Shell as the NFL’s first Black head coach in 1989, while the Raiders’ Amy Trask was named the league’s first female CEO in 1997.
Douglass Morgan is also the vice chair of the Las Vegas Super Bowl Host Committee, which is raising money to help put on the Super Bowl at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas in February 2024.
Douglass Morgan’s LinkedIn profile said she was an “experienced attorney” at Covington & Burling LLP.
In addition, she was also an independent director at Caesars Entertainment and Allegiant. It should be noted that Summerlin-based Allegiant has the naming rights deal for the domed, 62,000-seat Raiders stadium, while Caesars was among the first founding sponsorship partners of the venue.
By NFL standards, Davis is one of the more politically-forward thinking team owners. He has voiced his support for Black athletes and shined a light on racial inequality issues through the years.
And after buying the WNBA Las Vegas Aces from MGM Resorts International, Davis also hired a Black woman, Nikki Fargas, to be the Aces president in May 2021.
So in a matter of 14 months, Davis hired two Black women for the team president jobs at the Aces and Raiders.
Before she was chairwoman of the Nevada Gaming Control Board, Morgan worked as Director of External Affairs for AT&T Services, Inc., managing AT&T’s government and community affairs in Nevada.
She previously served as the city attorney for the city of North Las Vegas and was the first Black city attorney in Nevada. She began her career as a litigation attorney in the gaming industry.
Gov. Steve Sisolak: “I knew Sandra had a bright future when I appointed her Chair of the Nevada Gaming Control Board, and I am incredibly proud to see her breaking barriers in the NFL as the first Black woman President in the league. She’s a fantastic pick for the team, I know she’ll continue to make Nevada proud. I look forward to working with her to create more jobs for Nevadans, grow our sports economy and keep Las Vegas the sports capital of the world.”
From Allegiant, the stadium’s naming rights sponsor: “Allegiant is thrilled the Raiders have selected Sandra Douglass Morgan to oversee the Silver and Black’s front office moving forward. As an Allegiant board member, we’ve seen first-hand how her knowledge and experience benefits an organization and embodies a commitment to excellence,” said Scott DeAngelo, Allegiant’s executive vice president and chief marketing officer.
