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By Alan Snel, LVSportsBiz.com Publisher-Writer
LAS VEGAS, Nevada — During the Las Vegas Raiders’ disastrous losing season, owner Mark Davis sat in his luxurious suite, leaned back in his seat and laughed with a friend during a Raiders-Browns game at Allegiant Stadium Nov. 23.
As NFL owners go, the 70-year-old Davis is a fun-loving guy who chats with everyone from Jerry Jones and Tom Brady to everyday fans. So, it’s not unusual to see Davis bursting out in laughter at a football game.
But this seemed to be a strange time for Davis to be laughing and appearing to having a good time, according to the LVSportsBiz.com photo timestamped at 4:46 PM in the middle of the game’s fourth quarter.
Only two minutes earlier at 4:44 PM that Sunday in November, Cleveland Browns receiver Dylan Sampson scored a touchdown to give the Browns a 24-3 lead over the Raiders with eight minutes and 18 seconds left in the game, according to a LVSportsBiz.com photo time stamped at 16:44, or 4:44 PM.
The Raiders added a touchdown and the final score was Cleveland 24 Raiders 10. The Raiders’ record at the time fell to two wins and nine losses Nov. 23.
Since that game, the Raiders have lost five more games in a row. And the once dominant franchise under Mark Davis’ father, Al Davis, decades ago is now two wins and 14 losses in 2025, including a ten-game losing streak for the second straight season.
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Davis’ Raiders built and manage Allegiant Stadium, drawing the lion’s share of the revenues generated by the domed stadium on the west side of Interstate 15, about a 15-minute walk from the Strip.
Southern Nevada went into debt for about $1.2 billion to contribute $750 million to help build Davis’ stadium that opened in 2020. At the time, it was the biggest public stadium subsidy in U.S. history.
Southern Nevada has helped make the man laughing in that Raiders-Browns game photo a multi-billionaire because the Raiders’ team value has soared to the $8 billion range thanks, in part, to the revenue-making powers of the subsidized 62,000-seat stadium. Davis has already cashed in some by selling minority shares of the Raiders to four men, including Brady.
LVSportsBiz.com published a story Sunday after the lowly New York Giants pummeled the Raiders, 34-10, that explained that Davis has failed to create an identity for this team in Las Vegas after going through five head coaches, four general managers and three team presidents in five years.
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The Raiders have not won a postseason game since Jan. 19, 2003, nearly 23 years ago. Since that time, the Raiders have accumulated one of the NFL’s worst won-loss records.
Davis inherited control of the Raiders after his father, Al Davis, died in October 2011. During Mark Davis’ tenure as owner, the team has made the playoffs twice — in 2016 and 2021. After the Raiders made the playoffs in 2021, Davis fired the interim coach, Rich Bisaccia. The Raiders then piled up 6-11, 8-9 and 4-13 records from 2022-24 before 2025’s disaster of a season.
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It was not the best optics for Davis to be laughing with friends two minutes after the Browns scored a touchdown to take a 24-3 lead over the Raiders Nov. 23 when Davis’ team lost once again. You’d think most owners would be pissed off, not laughing.
But Davis is the owner and he’s free to laugh at games lost by his team.
Except the public — Southern Nevada — still has a debt of more than $1 billion on the money it invested in a building Davis runs. There is a public Las Vegas stadium board charged with overseeing the Raiders stadium, but its members are stadium boosters and its chairman is Steve Hill, who promotes the stadium as the LVCVA CEO. Public watchdogs are as rare as Raiders wins.
This stadium debt is being paid off by a metropolitan area known for its weak school district, doctor shortage, dangerous roads and lame public transportation system. If only Las Vegas cared as much for education, health care and transit as its does subsidizing stadiums.
That’s something to keep in mind when you see the owner of the Raiders laughing at his games — and all the way to the bank.
The Raiders play the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday, and if they lose, the Raiders will finish this season with the worst record in the 32-team NFL.
PSA