2025 VenuesNow All-Star Cover Honoree: Sandra Douglass Morgan Steers Raiders To New Era

VNC Keynote & Home-Grown Vegas Game Changer Steers Raiders Into New Era

Sandra Douglass Morgan has made history throughout her career – from serving as the first Black city attorney for North Las Vegas to becoming the first person of color to chair the Nevada Gaming Control Board to being named the first Black and Asian woman to serve as president of an NFL franchise. But her success is not just about making history; it’s about creating positive change.

From steering Nevada through pandemic challenges to redefining leadership within the NFL and holding influential roles with Fortune 500 companies, national law firms and serving on major boards including Caesars Entertainment and Allegiant Airlines, Morgan is shaping the future of Las Vegas and the Raiders with vision and purpose.


An All-Star in Raiders’ silver & black and a highly anticipated VenuesNow Conference speaker, Morgan talked to Pollstar about growing up and her trailblazing career bridging law, regulation, corporate governance and sports in Sin City.

(The full 2025’s VenuesNow AllStars list is available here).

Pollstar: You were 2 when your military family moved to Las Vegas in 1980. What was it like growing up?
Sandra Douglass Morgan: My mother worked swing shift at The Horseshoe, which is a landmark here with everyone taking photos in front of that big horseshoe. She was a Keno runner. I grew up near Nellis Air Force Base, a working-class community, and a lot of my friends had one parent in the military and one parent in the gaming industry.

After getting your JD from UNLV’s William S. Boyd School of Law (2003), you were a litigator and then worked for what was then MGM Mirage before you moved into public service in 2008. How did being city attorney for North Las Vegas shape your career?
That was when my true growth happened – just because it was a challenging time. You go from a city that was growing, literally the fastest growing city in the nation, to a foreclosure on every block after the recession… But for me that was a “If not me, then who?” Or “If not people who are put in these positions to make decisions, then who?” You see how people act and treat each other and their mission in times of turmoil.

In 2017, the governor appointed you to the Athletic Commission, which governs boxing and mixed martial arts. What was that experience like?
It was an incredible opportunity. He said, “Can you start next week?” And I was, “Why do I have to start next week?” It was because of the Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and Conor McGregor fight. It was the first time you had an MMA star and a true boxing star [compete] in Nevada and there were all these rules that we had to figure out. … A year later that same governor appointed me to be on the Gaming Commission.

You were named chair of the Nevada Gaming Control Board in 2019 going into the COVID-19 pandemic. Talk about bad timing.
My friends joke that every time I go into public service, there is a recession or a pandemic. It was the first time The Strip was empty. It was the first time you closed a casino – there are literally no locks on the doors. It was another time that shaped me as a leader, because people just wanted answers. Being in the dark is much worse than being told yes or no – unfortunately, there were a lot of nos.

Where does your inner strength come from?
It’s from my parents. My parents are still alive – they’re 82 and 83 – and I was talking to them about this the other day, how my upbringing prepared me for the situation that I’m in. My mother is really strong. She’s an eye-for-an-eye person. She’s first generation American from Korea, very big on integrity, very big on doing things that bring honor to your family, and not to embarrass yourself, not to embarrass your family, not to embarrass your sister. It was always like this: You do the right thing and stand up for people that can’t stand up for themselves.

How did being named vice chair of the Las Vegas Super Bowl LVIII Host Committee put you on a path to your current job?
I met [Raiders owner] Mark Davis and my last two predecessors through the Super Bowl Host Committee. He said, “We need to get involved in the community, we moved to Las Vegas, then COVID hit, we didn’t have any fans, what can we do?” I was giving him resumes of people I thought could help. He was talking about foundation and community and I’m thinking, “I’m not a non-profit executive.” So, I was giving him names. I realize now he was asking more broadly.

I’m guessing things became clearer after Davis requested a meeting?
He said, “I want you to join the team.” And I said, “Respectfully, I’ve already been general counsel, I have so much flexibility with board service. I’m here for you. I want to help the Raiders. But general counsel?”… He said, “No, I’m talking about President.”

You credit Davis and his father Al Davis (the first NFL team owner to hire a Black head coach and female CEO), with making DEI part of the culture. As a woman of color, how do you champion diversity and still normalize it in leadership?
Yes, I’m a Black woman, you can see that. But we have to talk about the work that I’m doing. The fact that Allegiant Stadium is a record-breaking stadium. The fact that we have grown revenue in the last three years and reduced costs and increased net operating income every single season. …So, I think we need to talk about why it’s important for people who are not traditionally in these roles to be in these roles – it’s because we have the qualifications and expertise to do it.

The Raiders have a strong identity, but the team is still relatively new to Las Vegas after playing in California from 1960 to 2019. How do you engage the community?
We have about 300,000 people that identify as Raiders fans. But what makes the city so great is also a challenge with respect to growing our true Raider fan base. Because we have 10% of the population every two to three years that just moved here.

So, how do you hit a literal moving target?
There are a lot of people saying the Raiders are their second favorite team, but we need to cross that barrier and make sure they’re the first. I think winning will help with that, but showing them what we do with that and how we care for our community is just as important.

How is the team investing in the community?
It’s about being able to grow true impact, and that is through partnerships. For example, with UNLV we started a middle school program for flag football called RUSH. Under the UNLV School of Public Health, girls come to our facility, doing drills and ultimately leading to a playoff and championship. But it’s tracking them and engaging with them from grades six to eight. That is a strategic partnership UNLV can be proud of instead of just saying here’s $10,000 for a flag football program.

What are the challenges of reaching a diverse consumer base?
We have our diehard fans who remember Super Bowl rings from the ’70s and ’80s, so how we communicate and speak to them is going to be different from our Latino fan base, and we skew higher on Latino and African American fans. …I hired a senior vice president of marketing – the Raiders never had one – because it is so important to understand who your fan is and be able to meet them where they are.

How do you stand apart in a market known for round-the-clock entertainment?
I mentioned I worked at MGM Mirage, I was on the board at Caesars, and hospitality is always the No. 1 thing you focus on. It’s always about what the customer wants. So, our premium service team knows that we expect the highest-of-highs when it comes to service, when it comes to the décor and when it comes to food options.
Sustainability appears to be another priority at Allegiant Stadium, which is LEED gold certified and 100% powered by renewable energy.

This is truly from solar farms directly to the stadium. Everything from being able to recycle our grass clippings since we play on grass, we have a field tray that brings in grass, and because of that, having greener water conservation measures. We are in Las Vegas, where smoking is only allowed in resort casinos, but we also recycle cigarette butts in different spaces of the stadium. And working really closely with our food & beverage provider, OVG, to make sure we bypass the landfill by donating tons of food to a local pig farm.

It’s top of mind and that comes from leadership. When I told Mark [Davis], this was something we had the opportunity to lean into as a newer team, he said, “Ok, let’s do everything we can.”

How difficult is it to manage the calendar in a busy market?
Every day is a different challenge. But I always tell our team, these are good problems to have. …We are open for business and creative, but ultimately football comes first.

How was it going from being vice chair of the host committee to actually hosting Super Bowl LVIII at Allegiant Stadium in 2024?
It was an incredible experience, not just for Las Vegas to host the Super Bowl for the first time, but also for the Raiders to truly be the home team to host. I’m biased, but I think it was the best. The only thing that would have made it better is if we were in the game.

What advice do you have for VenuesNow Conference attendees?
I think encouraging venue operators, and our most important vendors – whether that’s stadium operators, arena operators, food & beverage providers – to continue to talk to each other and raise the bar because ultimately, it’s all for our customers and our fans.