Sandra Douglass Morgan was hired as president of the Las Vegas Raiders on Thursday, becoming the first black woman to serve as president for any NFL team.
Morgan earlier served as vice chair of the Las Vegas Super Bowl host committee and was 2019-2021 chairwoman of the Nevada Gaming Control Board. She has also worked as a Las Vegas city attorney and a lawyer for MGM International.
“It is the honor of a lifetime to join the Raiders at one of the most defining times in the team’s history,” Morgan said in a statement announcing her hiring.
The Raiders, who moved from Oakland to Las Vegas in 2020, have been barrier breakers before in NFL history. The club made Tom Flores the NFL’s first Hispanic head coach in 1979 and made Art Shell the NFL’s first modern-era black head coach in 1989.
“This team’s arrival in Las Vegas has created a new energy and opportunities we never dreamed possible, Morgan said. “I look forward to taking this team’s integrity, spirit and commitment to excellence on the field into every facet of this organization.”
Morgan became the Raiders’ third team president in less than a year after the May firing of interim president Dan Ventrelle, who took over last July when Marc Badain resigned.
Davis, whose club has faced complaints of improper workplace activities, welcomed Morgan to the organization.
“I am thrilled that Sandra has agreed to join the Raiders family,” Raiders owner Mark Davis said. “Her experience, integrity and passion for this community will be invaluable to our organization.
“From the moment I met Sandra, I knew she was a force to be reckoned with. We are extremely lucky to have her at the helm.”
Morgan’s arrival comes ninth months after Raiders head coach Jon Gruden resigned following an NFL investigation into racist, homophobic and misogynistic language in e-mails, the details of which became public.
Gruden was replaced by interim coach Rich Bisaccia, who guided the Raiders into the playoffs before the club hired Josh McDaniels as head coach last January.
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