page_title: History of the Oakland Raiders
section_title: Early years (1960–1962)
hierarchical_section_title: History of the Oakland Raiders / Early years (1960–1962)
caption_attribution_description: English: F. Wayne Valley in 1961
context_page_description: The professional American football team now known as the Las Vegas Raiders played in Oakland, California as the Oakland Raiders from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to Las Vegas, Nevada. Between 1982 and 1994, the team played in Los Angeles as the Los Angeles Raiders.
context_section_description: A few months after the inaugural American Football League draft in 1959, the owners of the yet-unnamed Minneapolis franchise accepted an offer to join the established National Football League as an expansion team (now called the Minnesota Vikings) in 1961, sending the AFL scrambling for a replacement. At the time, Oakland seemed an unlikely venue for a professional football team. The city had not asked for a team, there was no ownership group and there was no stadium in Oakland suitable for pro football (the closest stadiums were in Berkeley and San Francisco) and there was already a successful NFL franchise in the Bay Area in the San Francisco 49ers. However, the AFL owners selected Oakland after Los Angeles Chargers owner Barron Hilton threatened to forfeit his franchise unless a second team was placed on the West Coast. Accordingly, the city of Oakland was awarded the eighth AFL franchise on January 30, 1960, and the team inherited the Minneapolis club's draft picks.
  Upon receiving the franchise, a meeting of local civic leaders and businessmen was called, chaired by former United States Senator William Fife Knowland, editor of the Oakland Tribune; Edgar Kaiser of Kaiser Steel; developer Robert T. Nahas; and Oakland City Councilman Robert Osborne. Also attending the meeting were Oakland Mayor Clifford E. Rishell; City Councilmen Frank J. Youell, Felix Chialvo, Glenn E. Hoover, Fred Maggiora, John C. Houlihan, Dan Marovich, and Howard E. Rilea; Alameda County Board of Supervisors President Kent D. Pursel; and County Supervisors Emanuel P. Razeto, Leland W. Sweeney, and Francis Dunn. The gathering found a number of businessmen willing to invest in the new team. A limited partnership was formed to own the team headed by managing general partner Y. Charles (Chet) Soda, a local real estate developer, and included general partners Ed McGah, Oakland City Councilman Robert Osborne, F. Wayne Valley, restaurateur Harvey Binns, 1928 Olympic gold medalist Donald Blessing, and contractor Charles Harney, the builder of San Francisco's Candlestick Park, built on a bleak parcel of land he owned; the road leading to the stadium is known as Harney Way.
  A "name the team" contest was held by the Oakland Tribune, and the winner was announced April 4, 1960 as the Oakland Señors. After a few days of being the butt of local jokes (and accusations that the contest was fixed, as Soda was fairly well known within the Oakland business community for calling his acquaintances "señor"), the fledgling team (and its owners) changed the team's name nine days later to the Oakland Raiders, which had finished third in the naming contest. The original team colors were black, gold and white. The now-familiar team emblem of a pirate (or "raider") wearing a football helmet was created, reportedly a rendition of actor Randolph Scott.
  Oakland Raiders games were broadcast locally on KNBC (680 AM; the station later became KNBR), with Bud (Wilson Keene) Foster handling play-by-play and Mel Venter providing color analysis. Foster the "Voice of the California Golden Bears", had a long career in radio, 1945–1955 as the "Voice of the Oakland Oaks" of the defunct Pacific Coast League; Foster was the first 1946–49, 1951–53, "Voice of the San Francisco 49ers". After the 1962 season, Foster would only call CAL (University of California at Berkeley) football until his retirement. Raider games, 1963–65 were heard on KDIA 1410 AM, with Bob Blum and Dan Galvin. In 1966. KGO Radio 810 signed a contract with the Oakland Raiders. Bill King was hired for the play-by-play and Scotty Stirling (an Oakland Tribune sportswriter) was color commentator.
caption: F. Wayne Valley, original Raiders owner, 1961.
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