Though the Raiders didn’t need to make their name change official until the start of the league year March 12, they got a jump on that. Just 23 days since they played their last game as the Oakland Raiders, the club held a press conference in front of Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas to announce they are now officially the Las Vegas Raiders.
With several current and former Raiders players on stage bookending Mark Davis, and Allegiant Stadium construction workers front and center, Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak took the stage to open things up.
“I Steve Sisolak, Governor of the state of Nevada, do hereby proclaim January 22, 2020 as the day to celebrate the renaming of the Las Vegas Raiders.”
Following leading the crowd in a chant of “Raiders!”, he posed Mark Davis and the official certificate signifying the name change. Then Mark Davis spoke.
“The Raiders were born in Oakland and played 13 seasons in LA. Both cities will always be part of our DNA. But today we begin a new chapter in our storied history. For today, January 22, 2020, we are now the Las Vegas Raiders. And today Las Vegas officially becomes out Nation’s capital.”
Shortly after the season, the Raiders removed “Oakland” from their team’s website. It said simply “Raiders” the past three weeks. It now reads Las Vegas Raiders, as does their social media accounts.
.jpg?w=600)
