The legendary Raiders owner Al Davis died in 2011, having moved his franchise from Oakland to Los Angeles and back, but he didn’t live to see his team in Las Vegas. His son and successor says he would love it.
Raiders owner Mark Davis reminisced on what would have been his father’s 96th birthday about how much his dad would have enjoyed seeing his team in Vegas.
“That’s the bittersweet part of all of this,” Mark Davis told Raiders.com. “[He would have loved this](https://www.raiders.com/news/mark-davis-reflects-on-father-al-davis-legacy-and-love-for-las-vegas).”
Mark Davis said Al Davis used to visit Vegas regularly at this time of year.
“He loved Las Vegas,” Mark Davis said of his father. “He loved sitting out in the sun. He’d bring his weights with him, his barbell and weights, because they didn’t have gyms in the hotels back then. That’s how he’d travel. He’d work out. Relax. He and my mom would go to a nice dinner and see a show. All right before training camp. It was a great time. My dad was treated very nicely by the people.”
When Al Davis was in the NFL, a team in Las Vegas would have been unthinkable, as the league distanced itself from gambling. Now the sports world has largely come to embrace gambling, and Mark Davis says that represents a new era for Las Vegas.
“Las Vegas was always the entertainment capital of the world,” Mark Davis said. “Now, it’s the sports and entertainment capital. And being part of that is really, it’s fun to be a part of that. It’s two different eras of Las Vegas.”
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