The Las Vegas Raiders named Sandra Douglass Morgan as the team president making her the first Black woman to hold the position in league history, reports the Washington Post.
A native of Las Vegas, Morgan becomes the second Black person named president of an NFL team after the Washington Commanders hired Jason Wright to the position in 2020. Also, Morgan is the third woman to be named president of an NFL team.
Before being appointed to her new role, Morgan was the first Black chair of the Nevada Gaming Control Board, a role she held from 2019 to 2021. Also, she was a city attorney and held executive positions at MGM and AT&T. Most recently, she was vice-chair of the Las Vegas Super Bowl host committee.
“From the moment I met Sandra, I knew she was a force to be reckoned with,” Raiders owner Mark Davis said in a statement. “We are extremely lucky to have her at the helm.”
"I definitely never want to be the last,'' Morgan said, "and I want to get to a point where there is no more firsts.''
Morgan pledged full transparency during her introductory news conference held at Allegiant Stadium.
"We have so much more to do, and I'm excited to be at the helm of that growth and look forward to ushering in the new chapter for the Raiders,'' Morgan said. "The fact is I have accepted this role because I believe in the promise of the Raiders, I believe in the future of the Raiders, and I believe in this organization's tenets of community, integrity and, most of all, commitment to excellence.''
"It's no secret that this organization has faced some recent challenges, but I want to be clear, I am not here to sweep anything under the rug or avoid problems or concerns that need to be addressed,'' she added. "It is not lost on me that this is a critical and defining moment in the NFL. It's important to me and it is my intention to make a meaningful contribution well beyond the Raiders family.''
Morgan is inheriting a front office that is undergoing a massive overhaul with two presidents and other longtime executives leaving the organization in less than a year.
Last summer, Marc Badain resigned as president and Dan Ventrelle took over in July 2021 as interim president before being promoted to full-time in January.
Less than a year later, Ventrelle was gone from the team. In a statement to the Las Vegas Review-Journal in May, Ventrelle said he was terminated in retaliation for bringing concerns from multiple employees to the NFL about a "hostile work environment.''
In a prepared statement, Coach Josh McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler welcomed Morgan to the organization.
"We congratulate Sandra Douglass Morgan on her historic hiring as team president and are excited to welcome her into the Raiders family, the statement said. “Sandra brings impressive leadership experience to the organization and we are thrilled to work with her as we continue to build a championship-caliber culture and team.”
