Las Vegas Raiders

The Las Vegas Raiders are a professional American football team. They are in the National Football League. They play in Paradise, Nevada, USA. Their stadium is Allegiant Stadium. They were created in 1960 as an American Football League team. They play in the Western Division of the American Football Conference (AFC). The other teams in the Western Division are the Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, and Los Angeles Chargers. The Raiders have won three Super Bowls.

 Team history 
 American Football League years (1960-1969) 
A few months after the AFL's first draft in 1959, owners of the Minneapolis new team (later known as the Minnesota Vikings) accepted the invitation to join the National Football League. Needing a replacement, the AFL tried to find one quickly.Dickey, Just Win, Baby, p. 7. Oakland was thought to be an unlikely city to have a professional American football team. The AFL owners picked Oakland after Los Angeles Chargers owner Barron Hilton threatened to drop his team unless a second team was placed on the West Coast.Dickey, Just Win, Baby, pp. 7–8. The city of Oakland was awarded the eighth AFL team on January 30, 1960, and the team took over the Minneapolis club's draft picks. The new Oakland team was called the "Raiders", which is a synonym for a pirate. The team logo includes an illustration of a Jolly Roger pirate.

In the early years, the Raiders struggled. When Al Davis came in as head coach and general manager, the Raiders got better. Davis hired John Rauch and went to the their first AFL Championship against the Houston Oilers and won it 40-7. After winning their first AFL championship they earned a shot at Super Bowl II and lost to Green Bay Packers 33-14. The next two years, the Raiders again won Western Division titles, only to lose the AFL Championship to the eventual Super Bowl winners—the New York Jets (1968) and Kansas City Chiefs (1969).

 National Football League years (1970-present) 
After the 1969 season, the AFL decided to merge with the NFL. The Raiders join the American Football Conference as a Western Division member. John Madden was hired as head coach. Madden took the Raiders to their first Super Bowl win against Minnesota Vikings 32-14 in Super Bowl XI. Later, Madden left for a commentary career. The Raiders hired Tom Flores, the first Hispanic head coach in NFL history. Flores took the Raiders for their second Super Bowl win against Philadelphia Eagles 27 10 in Super Bowl XV. The Raiders became the first wild card team to win a Super Bowl.

 Los Angeles Raiders (1982-1995) 
Al Davis signed a note to make the Raiders move to Los Angeles. The Raiders won their third Super Bowl against the Washington Redskins. They also hired Art Shell who become the second African American head coach in NFL history.

 Oakland Raiders (1995-2020) 
The Raiders moved back to Oakland. The Raiders have struggled since 2003 season after losing to the Tampa Bay Buccanears in Super Bowl XXXVII. They returned to the playoffs in 2016, but lost in the first round to the Houston Texans. They played their final year in Oakland in 2019 before moving to Las Vegas in 2020.  They finished their first season in Las Vegas with 8 wins and 8 losses.

 Season-by-season records 
Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties
 Season  W  L  T  Finish  Playoff results Oakland Raiders (AFL)1960 6  8  0  3rd AFL West  --1961 2  12  0  4th AFL West  --1962 1  13  0  4th AFL West  --1963 10  4  0  2nd AFL West  --1964 5  7  2  3rd AFL West  --1965 8  5  1  2nd AFL West  --1966 8  5  1  2nd AFL West  --1967 13  1  0  1st AFL West  Won AFL Championship (Oilers) 40-7Lost Super Bowl II (Packers) 33-141968 12  2  0  1st AFL West  Won Western Division playoff (Chiefs) 41-6Lost AFL Championship (Jets) 27-231969 12  1  1  1st AFL West  Won Divisional Playoffs (Oilers) 56-7Lost AFL Championship (Chiefs) 17-7 Merged into NFL1970 8  4  2  1st AFC West  Won Divisional Playoffs (Dolphins) 21-14Lost Conference Championship (B. Colts) 27-171971 8  4  2  2nd AFC West  --1972 10  3  1  1st AFC West  Lost Divisional Playoffs (Steelers) 13-71973 9  4  1  1st AFC West  Won Divisional Playoffs (Steelers) 33-14Lost Conference Championship (Dolphins) 27-101974 12  2  0  1st AFC West  Won Divisional Playoffs (Dolphins) 28-26Lost Conference Championship (Steelers) 24-131975 11  3  0  1st AFC West  Won Divisional Playoffs (Bengals) 31-28Lost Conference Championship (Steelers) 16-101976 13  1  0  1st AFC West  Won Divisional Playoffs (Patriots) 24-21Won Conference Championship (Steelers) 24-7Won Super Bowl XI (Vikings) 32-141977 11  3  0  2nd AFC West  Won Divisional Playoffs (B. Colts) 37-31Lost Conference Championship (Broncos) 20-171978 9  7  0  4th AFC West  --1979 9  7  0  3rd AFC West  --1980 11  5  0  2nd AFC West  Won Wild Card Playoffs (Oilers) 27-7Won Divisional Playoffs (Browns) 14-12Won Conference Championship (Chargers) 34-27Won Super Bowl XV (Eagles) 27-101981 7  9  0  4th AFC West  -- Los Angeles Raiders1982 8  1  0  1st AFC Conf.+  Won First Round (Browns) 27-10Lost Second Round (Jets) 17-141983 12  4  0  1st AFC West  Won Divisional Playoffs (Steelers) 38-10Won Conference Championship (Seahawks) 30-14Won Super Bowl XVIII (Redskins) 38-91984 11  5  0  3rd AFC West  Lost Wild Card Playoffs (Seahawks) 13-71985 12  4  0  1st AFC West  Lost Divisional Playoffs (Patriots) 27-201986 8  8  0  4th AFC West  --1987 5  10  0  4th AFC West  --1988 7  9  0  3rd AFC West  --1989 8  8  0  3rd AFC West  --1990 12  4  0  1st AFC West  Won Divisional Playoffs (Bengals) 20-10Lost Conference Championship (Bills) 51-31991 9  7  0  3rd AFC West  Lost Wild Card Playoffs (Chiefs) 10-61992 7  9  0  4th AFC West  --1993 10  6  0  2nd AFC West  Won Wild Card Playoffs (Broncos) 42-24Lost Divisional Playoffs (Bills) 29-231994 9  7  0  2nd AFC West  -- Oakland Raiders1995 8  8  0  4th AFC West  --1996 7  9  0  4th AFC West  --1997 4  12  0  4th AFC West  --1998 8  8  0  2nd AFC West  --1999 8  8  0  4th AFC West  --2000 12  4  0  1st AFC West  Won Divisional Playoffs (Dolphins) 27-0Lost Conference Championship (Ravens) 16-32001 10  6  0  1st AFC West  Won Wild Card Playoffs (Jets) 38-24Lost Divisional Playoffs (Patriots) 16-132002 11  5  0  1st AFC West  Won Divisional Playoffs (Jets) 30-10Won Conference Championship (Titans) 41-24Lost Super Bowl XXXVII (Buccaneers) 48-212003 4  12  0  3rd AFC West  --2004 5  11  0  4th AFC West  --2005 4  12  0  4th AFC West  --2006 2  14  0  4th AFC West  --2007 4  10  0  4th AFC West  --Totals  422  326  11 (1960-2006, including AFL & NFL playoffs)

+ = Due to a strike-shortened season in 1982, all teams were ranked by conference instead of division.

 Notes and References 

 Other websites 
  Official Website 

Category:Sports in Las Vegas

Category:1960 establishments in the United States
Category:21st-century establishments in Nevada
Category:1960 establishments in California