Wednesday marked a historic day as the Oakland Raiders officially became the Las Vegas Raiders during a ceremony at their new home, Allegiant Stadium.
The decision to move the team wasn’t an easy one for Raiders owner Mark Davis, but when Las Vegas was able to put together public funding for the building of a new stadium, he had no choice but to move the organization for the third time.
Dozens of current and former players were on hand at Allegiant Stadium for the ceremony on Wednesday afternoon, including Derek Carr, Trent Brown, Maquel Lee, Johnathan Abram, Maurice Hurst, Darren Waller, A.J. Cole, Trent Sieg, Jim Plunkett, Steve Wisniewski, Napoleon McCallum and Marcel Reece. Nevada state governor Steve Sisolak was also in attendance and spoke at the podium along with Davis.
Allegiant Stadium is not quite finished being built yet but is expected to be one of the nicest stadiums in the league upon its completion this summer. The Raiders are expected to spend the offseason in Oakland before heading back to Napa for training camp. They will then make the move to Las Vegas in time for the preseason.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was not on hand for the ceremony on Wednesday, but he was in Las Vegas this past weekend and spoke about how ‘grateful’ he is that Davis made this decision. In addition to the NFL Draft this year, Goodell also expects future Super Bowls and Pro Bowls to take place in Las Vegas in the near future.
Davis has already begun doing work in the local community as he also announced a $500,000 donation from the team to the Nevada Department of Agriculture meal-service program to help eliminate meal debt in schools to cap off the day.
Here is the official video the team put out to announce that they are officially the Las Vegas Raiders as well as some highlights from the historic day in Sin City:
Introducing your Las Vegas Raiders. #RaiderNation pic.twitter.com/nctLjrdfbi
— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) January 22, 2020
“I do hereby proclaim January 22, 2020, as the day to celebrate the renaming of the Las Vegas Raiders.” — @GovSisolak pic.twitter.com/gcgOCgn73R
— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) January 22, 2020
“Today we begin a new chapter in our storied history.”
Owner Mark Davis makes it official. #RaiderNation pic.twitter.com/GnqvH0LU7t
— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) January 22, 2020
Staking our claim.
Raiders players from the past and present help make it official. pic.twitter.com/3xvygRQUzv
— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) January 22, 2020
“We’re the Silver and Black State now.” – #Raiders https://t.co/wSMne4KhCt Mark Davis. pic.twitter.com/HdDT56B4Dl
— Paul Gutierrez (@PGutierrezESPN) January 22, 2020
Backstage at #Raiders event in Las Vegas… pic.twitter.com/vmFqQSCD6m
— Paul Gutierrez (@PGutierrezESPN) January 22, 2020
And here is Nevada Gov. @SteveSisolak‘s proclamation of the renaming of the Las Vegas #Raiders… pic.twitter.com/6djB4IbcBf
— Paul Gutierrez (@PGutierrezESPN) January 22, 2020
“We’re officially the Las Vegas #Raiders, and Las Vegas is our nation’s capital.” – Mark Davis pic.twitter.com/nlVwXkdSZb
— Paul Gutierrez (@PGutierrezESPN) January 22, 2020
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