February 7, 2024 • 43 mins
Just in time for this year’s Super Bowl and Black History Month, Emily sits down with Sandra Douglass Morgan, President of the Las Vegas Raiders and Vice Chair of the Las Vegas Super Bowl Host Committee, to talk about her deep love for her hometown and the process of bringing the Super Bowl to entertainment capital of the world for the first time ever. Sandra, the first Black woman to serve as an NFL team president, is no stranger to smashing glass ceilings, having been the first Black city attorney in the state of Nevada and the first Black person and second woman to chair the state’s Gaming Control Board. On this episode of She Pivots, Sandra shares how she’s striving to open doors for other women and why football fans are going to have an experience like no other this Super Bowl Sunday.
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She Pivots was created by host Emily Tisch Sussman to highlight women, their stories, and how their pivot became their success. To learn more about Sandra, follow us on Instagram @ShePivotsThePodcast or visit shepivotsthepodcast.com.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome back to She Pivots. I'm Sandra Douglas Morgan.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Welcome to she Pivots, the podcast where we talk with
women who dared to pivot out of one career and
into something new and explore how their personal lives impacted
these decisions. I'm your host, Emily Tish Sussman. If there's
one thing you should know about me, it's that I
(00:33):
am a die hard football fan, more specifically a Giants fan.
But since the Giants aren't going to the Super Bowl
this year, I had the chance to do the next
best thing interview the most important woman of this year's
Super Bowl. President of the Last Vegas Raiders, Sandra Douglas Morgan.
(00:54):
A lifelong Las Vegas resident, Sandra has built a reputation
for herself as someone who can get things done difficult situations.
She served as the Deputy City Attorney of North Las
Vegas when the recession hit, served as the chair of
the Nevada Gaming Board during the height of the COVID
nineteen pandemic, and is now the first black female president
of an NFL team. And they just moved the team
(01:17):
from its original city in Oakland, California, all while planning.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
For the Super Bowl. To say this woman.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
Is ready to pivot on a dime is no exaggeration.
So as we get ready for the Super Bowl this
coming Sunday, I hope you enjoy this conversation from the
woman that is making it all happen.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
Enjoy.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
My name is Sandra Douglas Morgan and I am the
president of the Las Vegas Raiders.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
So you've basically been in Las Vegas your whole life.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
Yeah, so I grew up here. My mother worked at
different casinos when I was growing up. My father was
a military veteran and worked in the post office and
things like that, so both working class. My mother worked.
She she worked swaying shift. She would work maybe from
two to mid nine or two to one am, depending
and so you know, by the time then she would
be home, my father would be home and then would
(02:10):
get up around six. So someone was always home with us.
And at the time I remember thinking, oh my gosh,
someone is always home, especially as a teenager, but now
it was you know, those were sacrifices that they made
to make sure that we were staying on staying on
the right track.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
You've talked a lot about the influence that your mother
had on you and your sister and the perspective that
growing up with her as an immigrant has shaped. Can
you talk a little bit more about that.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
I mean, she would just impressed upon us the importance
of hard work, not believing that anything's going to be
given to you. Also very cautious, make sure that people
around you have your best interest in hand, not to
let people take advantage of you. And I think her
her journey here in the US, and just me being
able to see as a young child how people treated her,
just the way they speak to her, just because of
(02:56):
her having an accent, assuming maybe that she doesn't understand
even though she does, just because she doesn't, you know,
speak the same way that they do. I think a
little bit of that created a you know, not to
make sure someone takes advantage of you, and to make
sure that you're strong, you're educated, that you speak up
for yourself, very clear, clear thoughts of right and wrong.
I think, of justice and making sure that people have
(03:17):
equal opportunities, and that is all. Some of it obviously
was direct, but some of it was just listening to stories,
you know, around dinner time and just listening to her
and my father talk about different opportunities or different ways
in the ways that they were treated as well.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
It's clear her parents did their best to provide Sandra
and her sister with the best childhood possible, but it
wasn't always easy. Her parents are an inner racial couple,
her mom Korean American and her dad black. Sandra often
faced comments and challenges.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
I remember going to the grocery store with my mother
and yelling, mom, like running down the aisle. I was
a little more rambunctious than my sister, and people would
look and say, you know, that's your mother, or they
would say to her, that's your daughter. That's just you know,
first of all, I think it's a little tacky, right,
but now realizing that I'm looking at her saying, why
are they questioning that? So just understanding how people see race,
(04:12):
how people treat people differently in different social strata, and
just for me, it helped me realize everyone's human. You
never know what someone's background is. You don't treat people
differently because they have an accent, and you don't judge
people based on who they love and who they decide
to have children with and what their children look like.
So it's I think those are just kind of life lessons,
And honestly, my friend group was incredibly diverse growing up
(04:34):
as well, I think because we grew up near the
military base and just having people from different states and
different communities. So all of that helped mold me to
obviously who I am.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
When I was there, one of the things that I
thought was kind of interesting, like as a tourist going through,
was that it was kind of a lot of like
it felt like buildings of gaming of years past. Like
maybe they weren't in the greatest upkeep, but I mean,
you've lived in Nevada your whole life and then ended
up not just working but like leading the industry and
in the gaming industry. How did you see like the
(05:05):
evolution of the industry throughout your life and like how
did it impact your perspective?
Speaker 1 (05:10):
Ela, This is so funny that you've brought up like
the kind of just even your short time there, just
noticing how they gaming buildings and the kind of infrastructure
was a little bit different from Las Vegas. But yeah,
I'm kind of growing up in the environment of knowing
you know, Las Vegas is constantly growing and attracting different people,
and that's why so many people are now moving here,
I went from four hundred thousand people when I was
growing up to about two point five now in the county.
(05:31):
And obviously just with the evolution of gaming, greater businesses,
obviously sports, it's been an incredible time. But to even
in my college years and when I came out from
law school, when I was going to law school here
at U and LB, they didn't want to be branded
as like a gaming law school, right. They wanted to
just wanted students from all over the country, all the
world to come here and know they could get a
(05:52):
world class legal education. And then I think about maybe
ten fifteen years in, they leaned in and was like,
why are we Why don't we just offer an LLLM
and gaming law? This is what we do. This is
where you know, obviously the knowledge hub is. So it's
funny how people want to say, no, I'm more than
that instead of just kind of leaning into to what
they know best. So I think I've been able to
see that evolution here in Las Vegas, and I love it.
(06:12):
I'm so I'm just really genuinely proud of the city
and we're we've been so business friendly and really encourage
other types of industries to grow here, and that's why
I think you're seeing the success that we have now.
But to grow up here, we really came to the
strip if someone a family member was coming in town
and that was about it. And then in the nineties
you had like MGM was branding themselves by the Yellowick
Road and Wizard of Oz and they were trying to
(06:33):
make it more kid friendly. I don't know if people
probably forgot about that because it didn't last very long
in the early two thousands, and then you had like
Treasure Island with pirate ships, and then you know, there
were roller coasters and Excalibur had more of a you know,
family friendly kind of renaissance feel. Other than popping in
maybe once every I would say maybe twice a year
on the strip. I lived thirty minutes and grew thirty
minutes away from the shrip. All my girlfriends did. We
(06:55):
would maybe go to a homecoming or prom somewhere near
the Strip, but other than that, you really stayed away
from it. And it's really just like any other city,
other than when you go to a convenience story, you'll
see a slot machine, and when you go to the
airport you'll see a slot machine. But other than that,
it's like any other place.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
But what did you think you wanted to be when
you grew up?
Speaker 1 (07:15):
I wanted to be Connie Chung because growing up, my
mother's koreative American Kanyie Chung was on our televisions every night.
This is before you know, obviously the growth of cable
news and just kind of twenty four hour networks, and
it was something that when we were home at night,
that's who we watched. And she was like the epitome
of you know, just having intellect and poise and clearly
(07:36):
having a voice that people wanted to listen to. And
so just growing up my mother was like, that's what
you should be, kind of focused on on what you
want to do and how you want to live your life.
And so seeing her, I was like, Okay, I'm going
to go do something in communications and journalism. And when
I got to the University of Nevada a Reno, I
thought I was going to be a comms or journalism major,
And honestly, my sister was in technical journalism as well.
(07:57):
She ended up pivoting too and ended up she's a
professor now at Columbia. But I think we both went
in thinking, look, we're going to make our mother proud.
This is what we're going to do. But when I
took a political science class and a constitutional law class
and undergrad I knew I wanted to kind of move
on to laws. So as a child growing up, I just,
you know, to make my parents happy. Wanted to do
what Kanyie Chun did.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
Was that like a big driving factor and kind of
formulating like who you were, who you're solid yourself as
as someone that your parents can be proud of.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Definitely, I think there is definitely a you know, look
you we wanted to work hard. My parents really really
instilled the importance of education. I say this and I
don't say this in a way to make me sound
why I did not wash my own clothes until I
went to college because my mother was totally like to just
focus on school. We want you to get a good education,
get a degree, kind of do that. My my sister
and I are both for generation college students. So it
(08:47):
was about kind of making you know your family and
obviously myself proud and my family proud as well.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
You are incredibly well educated, accomplished, and you stayed in
Las Vegas, your whole life, you know. I think that
often when people all we hear this from many of
our guests, if they start to think about, like I
want to get out, go somewhere. Did you ever think
about that or you were always very dedicated to stay
and state.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
No, I would have you. And I've been open in
saying this. I've told people that UNLV was my not
last but I mean when I went there, I was
in the third graduating class at the law school, okay,
so it was provisionally accredited. I was like, I'm not
going to go here unless I can practice anywhere in
the world, and definitely took a risk, but they definitely
incentivized me to go there. There was an incredible assistant,
(09:32):
Dean mean Frank Durand that you met with me often
in Reno and different things, just kind of letting me
know that the school is going to be great, and
I ultimately ended up going there. Obviously too, there was
a cost factor as well. But my mother always says
to me, I never thought you would stay here, like
why aren't you going somewhere else? And I was like, thanks,
I thought you would.
Speaker 4 (09:50):
Want me to be around because my parents are still
living here as well.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
But no, I always planned on it, and I honestly
tell my children to go as well. It was just,
you know, I've had incredible opportunity, and that is honestly
why I am very dedicated to the state, because it's
given me so many great opportunities. But Emily, absolutely I
thought I was going to leave. And now it's like,
you know, you married kids, you have jobs. Now it's like,
you know, I think I'm going to have to wait
maybe five years, but I still would love to, you know,
(10:14):
explore and actually live more long term somewhere else.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Still, Sandra decided to stay in state and attend University
of Nevada Reno for her undergrad which is where she
met her husband, Don Morgan, who actually went on to
play for the Minnesota Vikings and the Arizona Cardinals.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
Were gonna have varying stories. In my version, it was
like it was an event before school even started. We
called it Tillo on the Hill was in the quad,
and the quad there is beautiful because it's model after
the University of Virginia Quad. But then we ended up
having English in the same building, so there was a class.
It's in a building, an English class, and there were
windows for the doors, and for whichever class got out,
(10:53):
I would always peek in or you would peek in mine.
And then ultimately one day I was like, okay, are
we just we're going to go catch a movie or
but and so our first date was lovingly out of Chile's.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
The height of romance, I know, isn't it. Yeah, we're
classic nachos. Yeah, true, were up again. And when he graduated,
he went to play pro. Was that when you were
in law school?
Speaker 1 (11:15):
Yes, So I was in my senior year at Nevada
Reno when he was picked up as a free agent
for the Minnesota Vikings. And then we were married my
second year of law school and he was still the Vikings.
And then he went and played for the Cardinals.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
One year after that, well, Don was off playing football.
Sandra once again decided to stay in state and attend
law school at the University of Nevada Las Vegas.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
So when I was going to law school, this was
early two thousands, same issues that we're dealing with now right,
whether it be reproductive rights, affirmative action. Things that I
felt like when we talk about the Constitution, why I
was drafted, the different theories, you know, why how did
this come to be? I really really enjoyed that. I
always enjoyed understanding the why behind the company, right, what
(11:58):
is the company's vision, what's the goal of the CEO
or the CFO. Why is this policy in place? And
so I found myself as a litigator, obviously we have
to kind of have those interviews in those questions to
defend the case, but I wanted to continue to help
even after the case was done, or I continue to
kind of spot, well, how could we have avoided this
in the first place? So I knew I always probably
would have enjoyed an in house position or being in
(12:19):
management more than being the hired gun. So how did
you think about your steps after law school? Like were
you thinking about establishing yourself to be part of being
a lawyers that you have to be admitted in a state,
So it feels like a lot of pressure when you
graduate to like decide where you're going to take the bar. Sure, well,
I knew I was going to take the bar in Nevada.
I mean we took all the Barbie courses in the
(12:39):
prep courses, and you know, did the mb the MPRE,
like the multi state stuff. And at the time that
in two thousand and three. They only offered the bar
nevada once a year, so for me, it was either
I'm passing this because I don't want to have to
clerk for another year. I want to start making a
decent salary. And I passed the first time, so that
was great, and I ended up working at the firm
(13:01):
that I clerked in my last year in law school.
So I was clerking at a firm, and then I
did a judicial externship and kind of things like that
during the summer. And you know, I've been really lucky
to have incredible mentors throughout my career, and consider both
of the partners at my first firm that I keep
in contact with have been great. So I was there
for about three years and then went in house to MGM,
and that was like an opportunity of a lifetime for
(13:22):
me at the time. I was in my late twenties.
To be able to work for such established company and
just have that's when I kind of understood the corporate
structure and how things operate.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
Sandra's career had taken off. Working in house at a
place like MGM was a dream job for many, but
Sandra felt you could do more lead. More so, she
applied to become deputy City attorney of North Las Vegas
and landed the job at just thirty.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
So when I started, I started as a deputy city
attorney and worked my way up to assistant and then
worked my way up to and then ultimately was appointed
by the mayor and city council to be the city attorney.
And that city has its own police apartment, its own
fire department, its own parks and rectree department, public works,
you know, wastewater and water utility system, you know, things
like that. And it was the fastest growing city when
I joined, top five fastest growing city in the United States.
(14:10):
So when you talk about our planning and zoning, like
you know, oh, you know, here's a plot of land,
we're going to zone it commercial. This will be for retail,
this place will be for residential. Those meetings to determine
what that vacant land would look like, we're going to
one in the morning. That is how much growth the
city was experiencing. And so the time I joined, I
was like, this is wonderful. They need help. It's a
growing city. And then you know, the recession hits.
Speaker 5 (14:33):
Lehman Brothers is going bankrupt, and financial markets from Asia
to Europe are doing their utmost to prevent Monday from
turning from dark to black.
Speaker 6 (14:43):
So I think this is the most significant financial crisis
in the post war period.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
There are fears the selloff will continue on wall.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
Stream, soaring gas prices, falling home prices and rising unemployed.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
And obviously people aren't paying their more, they're losing their
homes things. I mean, there was a foreclosure I think
on every if not every street, every other street, and
you know, within a community where the Hume Building Association
again was growing and then it just froze, so tax
revenue wasn't coming in, and we had a lot of
agreements couldn't COLLECTI barding agreements with our police unions, fire
unions team serves that handled a lot of it. It
(15:19):
was incredible, I mean to we actually closed our city jail,
so those were goodness. I think at least five hundred
people who lost their jobs. It was just a really
really tragic and sad time. And for me personally, I
was also a resident of the city and sort of
an O eight so I had my son was maybe two.
It really made me realize for me, it's more philosophically, like,
(15:39):
what is the role of government? It is not for
me bringing in revenue. It is about providing basic services.
And I should say basic services. It's about providing services
to the community and to the residents and to the taxpayers.
But what level of services, you know, should it be?
I mean, citizen should feel safe in their community. They
should know if they're calling nine to one one that
you know, police or fire going to actually show up.
(16:01):
There should be parks and recreation centers where their children
and people can go. And it really kind of stripped
everything down and said, okay, what type of service are
we supposed to provide? So for me, it was a
very it was an incredibly moment of growth personally, but
then also professionally because I was in a role not
about providing value to shareholders, which is obviously very important,
but making sure the people who are living in the
(16:22):
city can have a good quality of life. And so
it was a difficult time, but I will tell you
it was a time of turmoil, and through that time
you see people rise to the challenge and you see
who was willing to come to the table and make
things work. And I'm just incredibly proud to have been
a part of a process where we were able to
renegotiate a lot of those agreements. And you know, the
(16:42):
city is thriving now and I knew by the time
that I left that it was definitely on the upswing.
But you know, a small, resilient city that really worked
together and it really helped me professionally. That was definitely
a turning point in my professional career as well, because
it was a point where if I can go through
this with you know, with this team and people around me,
like what you know, there's bringing on, there's more challenges
(17:03):
I think that we can you know, lean to and
kind of conquer together. It also really instilled me the
you know, you learn lessons throughund the way, but just
management style, collaboration and communication during times of crisis are
so important. When you're not making decisions for yourself and
just for the company, you're making peak decisions for residents
and for people who maybe don't have a voice.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
Yeah, talk to me about how that was a turning
point for you, Like did it make you think about
a larger possibility of roles that you could be in
or impact that you could have.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
It was more it wasn't about me. Really, I was
focused on, like, Wow, these decisions are impacting two hundred
and fifty thousand people, and what we do that affects
the city will then affect the entire state. If I
could help bring calm and bring the appropriate level of facts,
data analysis, collaboration to be able to get to a
(17:53):
decision that could help our residents, will total and help
our state. If I have that skill set that's able
to at least help manage that, then yeah, maybe I
do have a greater responsibility, but yeah, more from a
professional standpoint of Okay, I was in the room with
some people that were making very important decisions, and I
felt qualified and capable and competent, and I think it
(18:13):
helped my confidence as well.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
You probably had your daughter around the same time that
the crash was happening that you were managing all this
as a city attorney. That's not usually a time that
women say they want bigger responsibility.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
I remember my I was on attorney leave. I remember
having my daughter and a baby born while we were
having a meeting about unfortunately about reductions and force and thinking, oh,
this is so difficult, but you know, I wanted to
help the team, and there was the moment actually that
I decided to leave the city, I'll never forget it. It
was really late at night and I was hurrying to
sign her up for pre K or something, and I
(18:49):
remember thinking, I don't want to be here at ten
o'clock at night. I should be with my you know,
with my daughter. But we always have those those ebbs
and flows right in our lives and different things. I
didn't be myself up about it, but I just remember thinking,
this is probably time for me to try something.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
Different, ready for something new. Sandra spoke honestly about what
factored into her decision to leave public service and venture
into the corporate world.
Speaker 1 (19:11):
So when you.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
Left and you were thinking about looking for something else,
what did you prioritize in that search.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
I was looking for something that would definitely have some
stability for me to be able to have some control
and a little bit of autonomy, and something that was
different and fun, and honestly, I wanted to be able
to be a little more financially secure as well. And
I made the move to Atant.
Speaker 2 (19:33):
At this point, Sandra had made a name for herself
as deputy city attorney, building her connections and network along
the way. So It wasn't long before the state wanted
her back. She was appointed to sit on both the
Athletic Commission and the Gaming Control Board, all while still
working at AT and T. And from there, I don't
know it was directly, but you ended up at the
(19:54):
helm of the Gaming Control Board in Las Vegas. In
other states that be I don't know, like the Latto
or something, but in Nevada this is a serious position.
So okay, not only were you, I want to hear
what that was like to begin with, and then you
were running it when COVID.
Speaker 3 (20:12):
Nineteen hit, when the pandemic hit. You really are in
these you have such incremaicable timing.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
So Emily, my friends often say, don't go to public
service because every time you go back to public service,
there's a recession or a pandemic. So just stay like,
don't Yeah, for.
Speaker 3 (20:26):
The good of all of us. Yeah, for all of us.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
Please. Yeah, that was an incredible appointment. I was on
the Athletic Commission and new governor came in and appointing
me to be chair of the Gaming Control Board. It
is an incredibly important position for our state because gamings
are primary industry. This was something Emily going back to
my mother would meet. My mother incredibly proud because she
was working against swing shift Kino runner had to work
(20:51):
holidays because those positions don't give holidays off. And for
now me to be able to regulate that industry, so
a proud moment for her in me as well. But
you know, you're regulating everything from those five slot machines,
ten slot machines and a convenience store, to know, the
mega resorts on the strip, and incredibly well oiled machine.
Because gaming has been around for so long. To say
(21:14):
it's a welled oil machine is an understatement. The industry
is responsible for three hundred and sixty eight thousand jobs
and nine billion, yes billion, in economic impact. It's actually
larger than the airline industry.
Speaker 6 (21:28):
We contribute a quarter of a trillion dollars to the
economy and thirty eight billion dollars in taxes to local
and state governments around the country.
Speaker 7 (21:37):
The Economic Forum went over a number of revenue sources.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
They started with gaming taxes, which as we know, are
a major source for the state.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
Sandra was responsible for keeping the entire industry on track,
everything from licensing, regulation and enforcement to running the devices and.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
In the middle of that was the actually the repeal
of PASPA, which allowed states to legalized sports bedding.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
States and gaming companies can now legally allow betting on sports.
Speaker 5 (22:04):
That's because today the Supreme Court overturned a federal ban
on sports betting, calling it unconstitutional.
Speaker 1 (22:10):
So the big question for us is what does this
mean for Massachusetts.
Speaker 5 (22:13):
Development in America's sports industry. Today, America's highest court has
given the go ahead to bet on sports across the country.
Some experts say such a move could see thirty two
states offering sports betting within five years. A number of
stocks leaped on the news let's bring in Howard.
Speaker 1 (22:29):
So a very very busy time and an exciting time,
and cashles wagering was something that was front of mine.
I was at glat that we were able to kind
of push that through. As well as regulations on discrimination,
whether it be race, gender, sexual orientation, religion. That was
really important for me obviously personally as well as we're
looking at making sure we happened and that is an
inclusive workforce, but that our workforce is being treated properly
(22:50):
within the companies and the gaming entities, but also with
by customers.
Speaker 3 (22:53):
Okay, so COVID, Yeah, It was.
Speaker 1 (22:57):
Devastating, right, this is something that was unprecedented. The gaming
industry had never been closed ever. They're built to be
open twenty four to seven. The only time there was
an option was actually during JFK's funeral, they had the
option to be closed. So these doors are not meant
to be locked. They're open twenty four to seven. So,
you know, conversations about what do we do with the
casino cages right where you go get cash, where you
(23:19):
go get chips, where you go redeem your tickets. Initially
it was we kind of space things out every other
machine at table games doing every other because nobody knew.
I mean, it sounds a little silly now, but at
the time, and we were constantly monitoring the numbers and
the cases, and it was funny. Even as of March,
we didn't even have any confirmed cases in Nevada. But
then as soon as that hit, it was like okay,
(23:41):
now what and working with other states, clearly working with
the governor's office. The governor made the decision to open
and close, but as a head regulator, I would decide
how those decisions were going to be implemented.
Speaker 7 (23:51):
Las Vegas as we've never seen before heard before the
entire Vegas Strip shut down. One hundred percent of casino
doors closed, tourists gone.
Speaker 1 (24:04):
Empiness is like a ghost town.
Speaker 8 (24:06):
And it is like really sad.
Speaker 6 (24:07):
Everyone wants to know when will casinos get the green
light to reopen. We get some insight into how the
Gaming Control Board is making reopening decisions with the chairwoman,
Sandra Douglas Morgan. Another issue many people are worried about
is the coronavirus has effect, of course, on our city's economy.
Speaker 5 (24:22):
Yeah, Las Vegas has seen several large convention cancelations in
the last week, and that means less.
Speaker 8 (24:28):
Work for local businesses and hospitality employees.
Speaker 1 (24:31):
SASIA office, We didn't want to be a place that
was open for everyone when everything else was closed. In
other places, in other states where there was gaming, casinos
were one of the first things to be closed. But
in our state, when you closed it, it infected almost thirty
five to not forty percent of our population. We're on unemployment,
so you're trying to balance obviously this pandemic and what
(24:51):
that means, but also being able to stabilize and allowing
people to provide for their families. And then when you
have that many people who are unemployed, burden and crash
on the unemployment system right to even be able to
process all of that. So it was at that point
it was more than gaming regulation, you know. I was
talking to people about obviously COVID testing, working with our incredible,
(25:13):
honestly gaming partners because so many of them actually had
operations overseas and in China, and we're working with people
to obtain tests and masks and kits. It was really
at all hands on deck effort with the private sector
of the public sector, fire departments, counties, cities literally working
on with private jets to fly things in to make
sure employees and guests, you know, could be as safe
as possible. And it was true, it was. I spent
(25:36):
more time with medical professionals in February and definitely March,
in April, in May than my own team. So difficult
time for the state and just no one had a
blueprint or a playbook for it. But you talk about
a place being able to bounce back Las Vegas, you know,
you just don't ever count on us to be down
and out. I think the industry worked really well together.
(25:58):
It really made me proud, honestly to be a Novadon
as to how we were able to usher through that.
But I probably have never even satinly thought about the
impact and the process that that all had. But I was,
you know, devastating, obviously for large companies and small Her
pivot came knocking when she met the owner of the Raiders,
Mark Davis. The team had just made the move from
Oakland to Las Vegas, and we're quietly looking for a
(26:19):
leader who had ingrained knowledge of the city and could
lead tactfully to maintain their famous fan base while building
a new one. So we met when the team moved,
but I was in gaming and then I was at Comington.
I went to a firm before I came here, and he,
you know, Mark Davis has a humongous heart and is
really about not only taking care of the Raiders. It's
(26:40):
an employee first culture and he really was like, I
want to be woven into every single piece of the
Las Vegas community. He's like, we are the Las Vegas Raiders,
and you know, we want this community to love and
embrace us, and it's done great things for us from
the you know, from the stadium and from our headquarters
that are here in Henderson to really kind of embrace
this community. So I do think that helps as well.
(27:01):
And so we chatted about some things, things about the foundation,
things for more of a nonprofit lens and I was like,
that's not I mean, I want to help and we
love the Raiders. We were supportive as soon as the
team moved here. We want to dig in and help,
But for me not full time because I was kind
of enjoying some things. I actually joined some boards and
I was actually enjoying flexibility for the first time of
my life. And we always kept in contact. At the time,
(27:22):
I was the vice chair of the Host Committee and
so that I was appointed there through the Super Bowl
Host Committee, and so this would have been at the
time that the NFL announced the Super Bowls coming to Vegas.
The chairman of the Host Committee is Maray Gallagher, who's
the chair of Allegian Airlines. I serve on that board
as well, and we were announced kind of together as
being the chair and the co chair of the Host
(27:43):
Committee and what we're going to do to usher this
in and kind of lightning speed to bring it to
Las Vegas. Because kind of the bidding process, if you roll,
the application process changed a little bit and so I
go to the LA Super Bowl to kind of, you know,
check out things out, see what their volunteer program looks like.
And I see Mark Davis and he is like, hey,
you're always telling me no. And I said, I've never
told you no. I just said it wasn't the right fit.
(28:03):
But we always kind of kept in contact, and then
we just had some more serious conversations.
Speaker 2 (28:08):
Did he say when he came back to you and
you guys had these more serious conversations, did he say
what it was about you that made him say, yes,
you are the right person with the right experience for
this moment, for our challenges.
Speaker 1 (28:22):
Mark is very intentional, and this is where I'm slowly like.
He did make a comment. I think one of our
first conversations, and I remember I was driving with my
son and his name came up on the bluetooth in
the car. My son was like, is that really arkd
it was that's calling you? He said, I've heard a
lot of good things about you from people that don't
know each other. I remember he said something like that,
and so that's why I, as I have gotten to
know him, I was like, you know, who was it?
(28:43):
So I have a feeling now that you know, these
were people that I've met or interacted with, maybe someone gaming,
maybe some of the entertainment space, maybe some in the
legal space. And that's why I've always just said, you
never know who you're going to run into, and you
never know who's watching as well. But we have very
candid and frank discussions, which I think he appreciates as well. Ultimately,
(29:04):
that you know is he has the owner of this
team and has been with his team for over sixty years.
Fathers and obviously an incredible figure not just in sports,
but a leader as well.
Speaker 2 (29:14):
Sandra was announced as the president of the Las Vegas
Raiders in July of twenty twenty two, becoming the first
black female team president in the NFL and only the
third woman and third African American to hold the position
in the NFL's one hundred and three year history.
Speaker 1 (29:30):
I am just so grateful for him to have given me,
you know, this opportunity president. I never met a president
of an NFL team, really wasn't sure what to expect,
but for him, he is so incredibly candid that he
just said, hey, Sandra, if there's a problem here, we'll
fix it. And I'm sure, you're going to be fine.
And the Raiders have been here for a long time.
We have a lot of long term employees, and you
(29:51):
know you'll be okay. And even before the first owners meeting,
I was like, is there anything I needed? He's like,
you'll be fine. So to be able to have kind
of his support and just saying, hey, go go meet
with people, go figure this out. It's been an incredible
journey this far.
Speaker 3 (30:06):
What do you think?
Speaker 2 (30:06):
You know, there's always a learning curve if you get
into any job and you're.
Speaker 3 (30:10):
Like, wow, I am not as prepared for this piece
as I thought I was.
Speaker 2 (30:13):
So what are some of those you know, what do
you think since you came from a pretty different industry
you know, gaming and sporting in a little bit, but
like a different industry, So what pieces do you think
have best prepared you for this job? And what pieces
are you like, Okay, I need to lean on some
others to fill in this piece for me.
Speaker 1 (30:31):
Oh goodness, I'm an outsiders outsider for the NFL, Like
I've had an opportunity to meet some other presidents and
people do have different backgrounds, right, There's some lawyers or
some people that clearly have been you know finance backgrounds
more you know football operations backgrounds. But I'm definitely an outsiders. Outsider.
I had to understand the process with the NFL, and
that's going to be a work in process, and I'm
(30:51):
just not going to beat myself up to figure all
of that out in a month. It's just impossible. Right.
They have their constitution and bylaws, they have policies, they
have resolute there's always something that's going on, and so
I'm lucky enough to have people here in this organization
that have been here for a round that can understand that.
But we also have had significant turnover for our executives,
and so I've also told, you know, my executive team,
(31:14):
go out there, make the connections, understand it, but don't
kill yourself to think you have to know it all
on one day too, because you know, again there's other
resources and people that we can lean on. My priority
my first season was this organization and making sure that
I met everyone in this organization and understood what they meant,
that they believed that it meant to be a raider.
I could explain to people what my expectations were of
different departments, but I have been very open with people,
(31:36):
and I think I hope that people kind of appreciate
that saying, look, I don't know anything about stadium operations,
because why would I have to in my career, right,
So I'm going to trust you to do your job,
but I'm also going to expect that you let me
know if there's challenges, how I can help, what resources
you need. And I just want to make sure that
we stay on top and we're adopting best practices. But
(31:58):
I think, you know, pouring in to our employees and
letting them know that I'm here to support will hopefully
kind of build that help me gain that trust to
know that I'm here to support them. And if we're
all winning and wanting to be on the same page,
do what's best for the Raiders and then we'll get
to the right place.
Speaker 3 (32:11):
Where have you found camaraderie in that?
Speaker 2 (32:13):
I mean, to your point, it's only thirty two teams,
but actually you're in competition.
Speaker 1 (32:17):
Yeah, we're in competition on Sundays for sure. But I
will tell you, Emily, I did not know what that
relationship was like with other presidents. I've been so incredibly encouraged. Again,
because there's only thirty two they're dealing with the same issues.
You know, we've had, you know, some difficult challenges even
since I've been here, and people reaching out, you know,
to saying, hey, I'm here, if you need anything here,
if you need a vet here, if you need you know,
(32:38):
just to kind of walk through something. So it's great.
So from a business perspective, if we should all be
operating at a good level, because that makes the lead better. Right.
And I've been, you know, just again, really encouraged, and
I'm happy to have been able to make some good
friendships honestly with some of my colleagues and peers and
have found them to be a really good collaborative group.
(32:58):
I don't know all of them yet because I've only
been around for a little bit, but I've been able
to make some meaningful, I think relationships, and I'm incredibly
grateful for because they could have just said, hey, figure
it out on your own. But that has not been
the reception that I perceived this far.
Speaker 2 (33:11):
Well, taking on the team and going immediately into hosting
the Super Bowl, those are two like separate but also
huge endeavors.
Speaker 3 (33:20):
So what has preparing for the Super Bowl looked like
for you?
Speaker 1 (33:24):
So it's interesting. When I was vice chair, I was
not with the Raiders, so I you know, when we're
going through look at the process of looking at venues
and where we're going to host. I used to always say, oh,
just touch the Raiders. Well no, but in all seriousness,
my team here at the Raiders have been incredible. We
have people on every single committee for the host Committee.
The host committee itself has been great and working very
(33:45):
closely with the Las Vegas Convention in Misers Authority that
truly sells the destination and is a group, you know,
like Noahther Obviously, we have an incredible amount of conventions here,
so they're so skilled and working with hotels, knowing where
the event space is and so being able to work
with the host committee. And our executive director, Sam Joffrey
has been involved with the New Orleans Saints when they
host the last two Super Bowls, so we have the
(34:07):
expertise I'm hosting a Super Bowl. We have some of
the best venues in hotel rooms and in town obviously,
and we have the best destination and we have the
best team you know with the Raiders that are just
going to make sure that when we host this in
our home stadium that it's going to be an experience
like no other.
Speaker 8 (34:24):
Get ready, it's time for your next life changing, unforgettable moment,
because the greatest sporting event is coming to the greatest.
Speaker 3 (34:32):
Arena on Earth.
Speaker 8 (34:34):
It's more than the super Bowl. It's the super Bowl
in Las Vegas. February eleventh, twenty twenty four. The super
Bowl happens here.
Speaker 1 (34:45):
And you know, my goal obviously as president of the
Raiders is that they come back, and they come back
to enjoy a you know, a Raider game or an
event or a concert. The other thing that I think
is incredible is that we are one of maybe two
or three stadiums that are hundred percent powered by renewable energy,
so to be able to be legal certified for an
NFL stadium. To look at our composting efforts, our water
(35:06):
conservation efforts. I really hope having the super Bowl here
and being able for the Raiders to highlight that will
you know, kind of keep our sustainability initiatives front of
mine on top of mind while people are able to have,
you know, a once in a lifetime experience. For me
growing up in Las Vegas, I know the super Bowl
will be here and then it will be focused on
the next city, which is New Orleans. But I want
to make sure and I do believe that our executive
(35:28):
committeeans to make sure that there is a long impact,
positive impact that it's going to leave for the city,
whether it be our community and foundation events or are
you know the pitches that we're doing for local small
and women owned and diversal owned businesses to make sure
that they have opportunities to contract and work with different
companies in the NFL when it comes to the Super Bowl.
Speaker 2 (35:47):
So we obviously have to mention that you are the
first and only black female president of an NFL team.
You've said an interview that being the first black woman
president doesn't define success for you, but the legacy you
leave behind will.
Speaker 3 (36:02):
So what do you want that to look like?
Speaker 1 (36:05):
For me? It will be a success if I'm not
the last. And I'm incredibly proud of the fact that
I was the first black city attorney in the state
of Nevada and the first black person and second woman
to chair the Gaming Control Board. But on those two positions,
and this was you know, within the last ten years,
I wasn't the last, and that is important for me
right to be able to show people that people of
(36:26):
all different backgrounds, skill sets, we growths of what you
look like, have the ability to lead in these positions.
And what I'm hopeful to show in the Raiders is
that we're going to be successful for our business operations.
We're going to do everything we can to support the
young men that are on the field and our coaches
and our gms to make sure that we're never going
to be a distraction, but be able to be a strong, stabilizing,
(36:46):
revenue generating force so that the Raiders can continue to
be successful. And even though there's been no other black
women that have done it in the past, not going
to say if, but when I kill it, I hopefully
that will open the doors, you know, for other women.
And Emily, I've also said that I I knew there
was going to be some news, obviously with me being
the first, but the amount of feedback that I've gotten
just from women that have been in sports for so
(37:07):
long saying, you know, we've been waiting for this, we
want this, we want you to tell your story.
Speaker 8 (37:11):
You know.
Speaker 1 (37:12):
That's why I've been, you know, trying to kind of
open up more in and talk about it because this
is something that it's not just for one person. That's
not just for one type of person or someone with
one type of background. And I do think with sports
and entertainment and just the business of sports changing and evolving,
there's room for everyone at the table.
Speaker 3 (37:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (37:30):
And I also think an important part of that is
understanding the decision making process, like having transparency into how
we make these decisions. Like I love that you've spoken
about that when you're ready to seriously consider taking the job,
you consulted your family, and I think that's important for
people to hear, to be able to see themselves in
these positions of power as well.
Speaker 3 (37:48):
So what were those conversations, Like, Well, I.
Speaker 1 (37:50):
Love my husband, he's incredible. He is so supportive, but
with him being a former NFL player, he's like, what
are we talking about here? What's there to discuss?
Speaker 4 (37:58):
You're like, yes, you're in yeah, And I was like, well,
all your our children at the time and things like that.
But in all seriousness he was he was like, we
will do this together and I will support you, and
he has, honestly every step of the way.
Speaker 1 (38:10):
I was looking at another opportunity actually before I joined
the Raiders. That included some travel and I remember thinking,
oh my gosh, it's that too much travel. I've gone
every weekend. We've been able to kind of make it work.
Spoke with my family. I have a very close set
of girlfriends that I've had for over twenty years to
kind of talk about what this would be and it's
something that you really you can try to prepare for,
but you really don't know until you're in it, right,
(38:31):
And that's like with any other position. But talking to them,
it was you know, one, we can do it, we
can make it work. We'll have your back. That was
the type of support I needed, and for me having
this support of saying, look, honestly, if it doesn't work out,
that's something that I honestly learned at the City of
North Las Vegas times like sometimes you just have to
try and take a risk, take a chance on yourself.
Right know that you have and I'm lucky again have
(38:53):
a great support system. If it doesn't work out, then
you know, that's okay. But I didn't want to ever
think what if.
Speaker 2 (39:00):
What is something that at the time you saw as
kind of a negative in your life, Like you were like, oh,
I can't believe this is happening, But maybe like a
low point, but now in hindsight you see it as
really having added, like having put you in the position
where you are now.
Speaker 1 (39:14):
So the first and I think just because it's more
the more recent, was the pandemic and having so many
different people with our dominant industry, and obviously having people
being unemployed, and just the pressure of it all and
obviously the divisive nature of it saying no to people
a lot right, and me wondering, this may be time
for me to move after this, because I don't know
(39:35):
what this is going to look like. But what I
learned through that, even though there were very spirited meetings
and some really difficult conversations and obviously very difficult decisions
I had to make, was that I learned that people
would prefer to hear no than nothing at all. So
for me, that helped me, I think with my management
style and my team on saying they don't want to
hear no. They obviously want to hear yes, especially if
(39:56):
they're asking and posing a question to you. But if
you tell them no and why and communicate and say
but if something changes, I'll let you know. That I
think helped me and help the relationships that I have
now because many of the people honestly that are that
are Raiders partners now are people that I interacted with
and had to make some of those difficult conversations and
have those difficult discussions with. So that is something that
I think at a time, I thought, oh my goodness,
(40:18):
it is me, not me against the world, but you know,
sometimes they be gaming against everything, and that was a
learning point. The honor time was actually I applied. I
did not become city attorney on the first my first interview,
I was actually did not get at the first time,
but I remember a couple of council members talking to
me and saying, I didn't know you very well, and
(40:41):
I don't want you to leave, and I definitely see
a future for you here. So I'm grateful that you interviewed,
and we want to make sure that you're around. So
initially I thought, oh my goodness, I didn't get the job.
Should I leave? Should I go somewhere else? You know,
the person that knew I applied as well, would that
be odd? But to get that response that also was
something that Okay, you know, I'm glad I did it
because now maybe people know another side of me or
(41:02):
now they know who I am and know that I'm
valuable to this organization. So a drawback, I think, a
small drawback, but I think long term, the people that
saw me actually have that position, and some of them
weren't even on the council when I became city attorney. Again,
those type of relationships and being able to let people
know who you are and what you can bring to
the organization was definitely a turning point for me.
Speaker 3 (41:24):
Sandra, thank you so much for joining us. This has
been really, really great.
Speaker 1 (41:28):
Emily, thank you so much for having me on sheep Pivots.
This is a lot of fun.
Speaker 2 (41:34):
Sandra still lives in Las Vegas, but who knows, maybe
not for long. With her kids and her husband, she
is of course killing it as president of the Raiders
and is quietly building a legacy that will have an
impact on the NFL for generations to come. Look out
for her on your TV screens this weekend as the
vice chair of the Super Bowl host Committee and president
(41:56):
of the Hosting Team. She is truly running the chef.
Head over to our Instagram at she Pivots the podcast.
So tell us who you're rooting for this year and
what your Super Bowl friendship bracelet's going to say. Be
sure to follow Sandra on Instagram at sdmr raiders one
for all her latest updates on the Raiders. Thanks for listening.
(42:19):
Thanks for listening to this episode of she Pivots. If
you've made it this far, you're a true pivoter, So
thanks for being part of this community. I hope you
enjoyed this episode, and if you did leave us a rating,
please be nice.
Speaker 3 (42:32):
Tell your friends about us.
Speaker 2 (42:34):
To learn more about our guests, follow us on Instagram
at she Pivots the Podcast, or sign up for our
newsletter where you can get exclusive behind the scenes content,
or on our website, she Pivots the Podcast Talk to
You Next Week special thanks to the she Pivots team,
Executive producer Emily Edavlosk, Associate producer and social media connoisseur
(42:58):
Hannah Cousins, Research director Christine Dickinson, Events and logistics coordinator
Madeline Sonoviak, and audio editor and mixer Nina Pollock.
Speaker 7 (43:08):
I endorse Cheap Pivots
Welcome back to She Pivots. I'm Sandra Douglas Morgan.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Welcome to she Pivots, the podcast where we talk with
women who dared to pivot out of one career and
into something new and explore how their personal lives impacted
these decisions. I'm your host, Emily Tish Sussman. If there's
one thing you should know about me, it's that I
(00:33):
am a die hard football fan, more specifically a Giants fan.
But since the Giants aren't going to the Super Bowl
this year, I had the chance to do the next
best thing interview the most important woman of this year's
Super Bowl. President of the Last Vegas Raiders, Sandra Douglas Morgan.
(00:54):
A lifelong Las Vegas resident, Sandra has built a reputation
for herself as someone who can get things done difficult situations.
She served as the Deputy City Attorney of North Las
Vegas when the recession hit, served as the chair of
the Nevada Gaming Board during the height of the COVID
nineteen pandemic, and is now the first black female president
of an NFL team. And they just moved the team
(01:17):
from its original city in Oakland, California, all while planning.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
For the Super Bowl. To say this woman.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
Is ready to pivot on a dime is no exaggeration.
So as we get ready for the Super Bowl this
coming Sunday, I hope you enjoy this conversation from the
woman that is making it all happen.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
Enjoy.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
My name is Sandra Douglas Morgan and I am the
president of the Las Vegas Raiders.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
So you've basically been in Las Vegas your whole life.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
Yeah, so I grew up here. My mother worked at
different casinos when I was growing up. My father was
a military veteran and worked in the post office and
things like that, so both working class. My mother worked.
She she worked swaying shift. She would work maybe from
two to mid nine or two to one am, depending
and so you know, by the time then she would
be home, my father would be home and then would
(02:10):
get up around six. So someone was always home with us.
And at the time I remember thinking, oh my gosh,
someone is always home, especially as a teenager, but now
it was you know, those were sacrifices that they made
to make sure that we were staying on staying on
the right track.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
You've talked a lot about the influence that your mother
had on you and your sister and the perspective that
growing up with her as an immigrant has shaped. Can
you talk a little bit more about that.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
I mean, she would just impressed upon us the importance
of hard work, not believing that anything's going to be
given to you. Also very cautious, make sure that people
around you have your best interest in hand, not to
let people take advantage of you. And I think her
her journey here in the US, and just me being
able to see as a young child how people treated her,
just the way they speak to her, just because of
(02:56):
her having an accent, assuming maybe that she doesn't understand
even though she does, just because she doesn't, you know,
speak the same way that they do. I think a
little bit of that created a you know, not to
make sure someone takes advantage of you, and to make
sure that you're strong, you're educated, that you speak up
for yourself, very clear, clear thoughts of right and wrong.
I think, of justice and making sure that people have
(03:17):
equal opportunities, and that is all. Some of it obviously
was direct, but some of it was just listening to stories,
you know, around dinner time and just listening to her
and my father talk about different opportunities or different ways
in the ways that they were treated as well.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
It's clear her parents did their best to provide Sandra
and her sister with the best childhood possible, but it
wasn't always easy. Her parents are an inner racial couple,
her mom Korean American and her dad black. Sandra often
faced comments and challenges.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
I remember going to the grocery store with my mother
and yelling, mom, like running down the aisle. I was
a little more rambunctious than my sister, and people would
look and say, you know, that's your mother, or they
would say to her, that's your daughter. That's just you know,
first of all, I think it's a little tacky, right,
but now realizing that I'm looking at her saying, why
are they questioning that? So just understanding how people see race,
(04:12):
how people treat people differently in different social strata, and
just for me, it helped me realize everyone's human. You
never know what someone's background is. You don't treat people
differently because they have an accent, and you don't judge
people based on who they love and who they decide
to have children with and what their children look like.
So it's I think those are just kind of life lessons,
And honestly, my friend group was incredibly diverse growing up
(04:34):
as well, I think because we grew up near the
military base and just having people from different states and
different communities. So all of that helped mold me to
obviously who I am.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
When I was there, one of the things that I
thought was kind of interesting, like as a tourist going through,
was that it was kind of a lot of like
it felt like buildings of gaming of years past. Like
maybe they weren't in the greatest upkeep, but I mean,
you've lived in Nevada your whole life and then ended
up not just working but like leading the industry and
in the gaming industry. How did you see like the
(05:05):
evolution of the industry throughout your life and like how
did it impact your perspective?
Speaker 1 (05:10):
Ela, This is so funny that you've brought up like
the kind of just even your short time there, just
noticing how they gaming buildings and the kind of infrastructure
was a little bit different from Las Vegas. But yeah,
I'm kind of growing up in the environment of knowing
you know, Las Vegas is constantly growing and attracting different people,
and that's why so many people are now moving here,
I went from four hundred thousand people when I was
growing up to about two point five now in the county.
(05:31):
And obviously just with the evolution of gaming, greater businesses,
obviously sports, it's been an incredible time. But to even
in my college years and when I came out from
law school, when I was going to law school here
at U and LB, they didn't want to be branded
as like a gaming law school, right. They wanted to
just wanted students from all over the country, all the
world to come here and know they could get a
(05:52):
world class legal education. And then I think about maybe
ten fifteen years in, they leaned in and was like,
why are we Why don't we just offer an LLLM
and gaming law? This is what we do. This is
where you know, obviously the knowledge hub is. So it's
funny how people want to say, no, I'm more than
that instead of just kind of leaning into to what
they know best. So I think I've been able to
see that evolution here in Las Vegas, and I love it.
(06:12):
I'm so I'm just really genuinely proud of the city
and we're we've been so business friendly and really encourage
other types of industries to grow here, and that's why
I think you're seeing the success that we have now.
But to grow up here, we really came to the
strip if someone a family member was coming in town
and that was about it. And then in the nineties
you had like MGM was branding themselves by the Yellowick
Road and Wizard of Oz and they were trying to
(06:33):
make it more kid friendly. I don't know if people
probably forgot about that because it didn't last very long
in the early two thousands, and then you had like
Treasure Island with pirate ships, and then you know, there
were roller coasters and Excalibur had more of a you know,
family friendly kind of renaissance feel. Other than popping in
maybe once every I would say maybe twice a year
on the strip. I lived thirty minutes and grew thirty
minutes away from the shrip. All my girlfriends did. We
(06:55):
would maybe go to a homecoming or prom somewhere near
the Strip, but other than that, you really stayed away
from it. And it's really just like any other city,
other than when you go to a convenience story, you'll
see a slot machine, and when you go to the
airport you'll see a slot machine. But other than that,
it's like any other place.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
But what did you think you wanted to be when
you grew up?
Speaker 1 (07:15):
I wanted to be Connie Chung because growing up, my
mother's koreative American Kanyie Chung was on our televisions every night.
This is before you know, obviously the growth of cable
news and just kind of twenty four hour networks, and
it was something that when we were home at night,
that's who we watched. And she was like the epitome
of you know, just having intellect and poise and clearly
(07:36):
having a voice that people wanted to listen to. And
so just growing up my mother was like, that's what
you should be, kind of focused on on what you
want to do and how you want to live your life.
And so seeing her, I was like, Okay, I'm going
to go do something in communications and journalism. And when
I got to the University of Nevada a Reno, I
thought I was going to be a comms or journalism major,
And honestly, my sister was in technical journalism as well.
(07:57):
She ended up pivoting too and ended up she's a
professor now at Columbia. But I think we both went
in thinking, look, we're going to make our mother proud.
This is what we're going to do. But when I
took a political science class and a constitutional law class
and undergrad I knew I wanted to kind of move
on to laws. So as a child growing up, I just,
you know, to make my parents happy. Wanted to do
what Kanyie Chun did.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
Was that like a big driving factor and kind of
formulating like who you were, who you're solid yourself as
as someone that your parents can be proud of.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Definitely, I think there is definitely a you know, look
you we wanted to work hard. My parents really really
instilled the importance of education. I say this and I
don't say this in a way to make me sound
why I did not wash my own clothes until I
went to college because my mother was totally like to just
focus on school. We want you to get a good education,
get a degree, kind of do that. My my sister
and I are both for generation college students. So it
(08:47):
was about kind of making you know your family and
obviously myself proud and my family proud as well.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
You are incredibly well educated, accomplished, and you stayed in
Las Vegas, your whole life, you know. I think that
often when people all we hear this from many of
our guests, if they start to think about, like I
want to get out, go somewhere. Did you ever think
about that or you were always very dedicated to stay
and state.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
No, I would have you. And I've been open in
saying this. I've told people that UNLV was my not
last but I mean when I went there, I was
in the third graduating class at the law school, okay,
so it was provisionally accredited. I was like, I'm not
going to go here unless I can practice anywhere in
the world, and definitely took a risk, but they definitely
incentivized me to go there. There was an incredible assistant,
(09:32):
Dean mean Frank Durand that you met with me often
in Reno and different things, just kind of letting me
know that the school is going to be great, and
I ultimately ended up going there. Obviously too, there was
a cost factor as well. But my mother always says
to me, I never thought you would stay here, like
why aren't you going somewhere else? And I was like, thanks,
I thought you would.
Speaker 4 (09:50):
Want me to be around because my parents are still
living here as well.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
But no, I always planned on it, and I honestly
tell my children to go as well. It was just,
you know, I've had incredible opportunity, and that is honestly
why I am very dedicated to the state, because it's
given me so many great opportunities. But Emily, absolutely I
thought I was going to leave. And now it's like,
you know, you married kids, you have jobs. Now it's like,
you know, I think I'm going to have to wait
maybe five years, but I still would love to, you know,
(10:14):
explore and actually live more long term somewhere else.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Still, Sandra decided to stay in state and attend University
of Nevada Reno for her undergrad which is where she
met her husband, Don Morgan, who actually went on to
play for the Minnesota Vikings and the Arizona Cardinals.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
Were gonna have varying stories. In my version, it was
like it was an event before school even started. We
called it Tillo on the Hill was in the quad,
and the quad there is beautiful because it's model after
the University of Virginia Quad. But then we ended up
having English in the same building, so there was a class.
It's in a building, an English class, and there were
windows for the doors, and for whichever class got out,
(10:53):
I would always peek in or you would peek in mine.
And then ultimately one day I was like, okay, are
we just we're going to go catch a movie or
but and so our first date was lovingly out of Chile's.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
The height of romance, I know, isn't it. Yeah, we're
classic nachos. Yeah, true, were up again. And when he graduated,
he went to play pro. Was that when you were
in law school?
Speaker 1 (11:15):
Yes, So I was in my senior year at Nevada
Reno when he was picked up as a free agent
for the Minnesota Vikings. And then we were married my
second year of law school and he was still the Vikings.
And then he went and played for the Cardinals.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
One year after that, well, Don was off playing football.
Sandra once again decided to stay in state and attend
law school at the University of Nevada Las Vegas.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
So when I was going to law school, this was
early two thousands, same issues that we're dealing with now right,
whether it be reproductive rights, affirmative action. Things that I
felt like when we talk about the Constitution, why I
was drafted, the different theories, you know, why how did
this come to be? I really really enjoyed that. I
always enjoyed understanding the why behind the company, right, what
(11:58):
is the company's vision, what's the goal of the CEO
or the CFO. Why is this policy in place? And
so I found myself as a litigator, obviously we have
to kind of have those interviews in those questions to
defend the case, but I wanted to continue to help
even after the case was done, or I continue to
kind of spot, well, how could we have avoided this
in the first place? So I knew I always probably
would have enjoyed an in house position or being in
(12:19):
management more than being the hired gun. So how did
you think about your steps after law school? Like were
you thinking about establishing yourself to be part of being
a lawyers that you have to be admitted in a state,
So it feels like a lot of pressure when you
graduate to like decide where you're going to take the bar. Sure, well,
I knew I was going to take the bar in Nevada.
I mean we took all the Barbie courses in the
(12:39):
prep courses, and you know, did the mb the MPRE,
like the multi state stuff. And at the time that
in two thousand and three. They only offered the bar
nevada once a year, so for me, it was either
I'm passing this because I don't want to have to
clerk for another year. I want to start making a
decent salary. And I passed the first time, so that
was great, and I ended up working at the firm
(13:01):
that I clerked in my last year in law school.
So I was clerking at a firm, and then I
did a judicial externship and kind of things like that
during the summer. And you know, I've been really lucky
to have incredible mentors throughout my career, and consider both
of the partners at my first firm that I keep
in contact with have been great. So I was there
for about three years and then went in house to MGM,
and that was like an opportunity of a lifetime for
(13:22):
me at the time. I was in my late twenties.
To be able to work for such established company and
just have that's when I kind of understood the corporate
structure and how things operate.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
Sandra's career had taken off. Working in house at a
place like MGM was a dream job for many, but
Sandra felt you could do more lead. More so, she
applied to become deputy City attorney of North Las Vegas
and landed the job at just thirty.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
So when I started, I started as a deputy city
attorney and worked my way up to assistant and then
worked my way up to and then ultimately was appointed
by the mayor and city council to be the city attorney.
And that city has its own police apartment, its own
fire department, its own parks and rectree department, public works,
you know, wastewater and water utility system, you know, things
like that. And it was the fastest growing city when
I joined, top five fastest growing city in the United States.
(14:10):
So when you talk about our planning and zoning, like
you know, oh, you know, here's a plot of land,
we're going to zone it commercial. This will be for retail,
this place will be for residential. Those meetings to determine
what that vacant land would look like, we're going to
one in the morning. That is how much growth the
city was experiencing. And so the time I joined, I
was like, this is wonderful. They need help. It's a
growing city. And then you know, the recession hits.
Speaker 5 (14:33):
Lehman Brothers is going bankrupt, and financial markets from Asia
to Europe are doing their utmost to prevent Monday from
turning from dark to black.
Speaker 6 (14:43):
So I think this is the most significant financial crisis
in the post war period.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
There are fears the selloff will continue on wall.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
Stream, soaring gas prices, falling home prices and rising unemployed.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
And obviously people aren't paying their more, they're losing their
homes things. I mean, there was a foreclosure I think
on every if not every street, every other street, and
you know, within a community where the Hume Building Association
again was growing and then it just froze, so tax
revenue wasn't coming in, and we had a lot of
agreements couldn't COLLECTI barding agreements with our police unions, fire
unions team serves that handled a lot of it. It
(15:19):
was incredible, I mean to we actually closed our city jail,
so those were goodness. I think at least five hundred
people who lost their jobs. It was just a really
really tragic and sad time. And for me personally, I
was also a resident of the city and sort of
an O eight so I had my son was maybe two.
It really made me realize for me, it's more philosophically, like,
(15:39):
what is the role of government? It is not for
me bringing in revenue. It is about providing basic services.
And I should say basic services. It's about providing services
to the community and to the residents and to the taxpayers.
But what level of services, you know, should it be?
I mean, citizen should feel safe in their community. They
should know if they're calling nine to one one that
you know, police or fire going to actually show up.
(16:01):
There should be parks and recreation centers where their children
and people can go. And it really kind of stripped
everything down and said, okay, what type of service are
we supposed to provide? So for me, it was a
very it was an incredibly moment of growth personally, but
then also professionally because I was in a role not
about providing value to shareholders, which is obviously very important,
but making sure the people who are living in the
(16:22):
city can have a good quality of life. And so
it was a difficult time, but I will tell you
it was a time of turmoil, and through that time
you see people rise to the challenge and you see
who was willing to come to the table and make
things work. And I'm just incredibly proud to have been
a part of a process where we were able to
renegotiate a lot of those agreements. And you know, the
(16:42):
city is thriving now and I knew by the time
that I left that it was definitely on the upswing.
But you know, a small, resilient city that really worked
together and it really helped me professionally. That was definitely
a turning point in my professional career as well, because
it was a point where if I can go through
this with you know, with this team and people around me,
like what you know, there's bringing on, there's more challenges
(17:03):
I think that we can you know, lean to and
kind of conquer together. It also really instilled me the
you know, you learn lessons throughund the way, but just
management style, collaboration and communication during times of crisis are
so important. When you're not making decisions for yourself and
just for the company, you're making peak decisions for residents
and for people who maybe don't have a voice.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
Yeah, talk to me about how that was a turning
point for you, Like did it make you think about
a larger possibility of roles that you could be in
or impact that you could have.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
It was more it wasn't about me. Really, I was
focused on, like, Wow, these decisions are impacting two hundred
and fifty thousand people, and what we do that affects
the city will then affect the entire state. If I
could help bring calm and bring the appropriate level of facts,
data analysis, collaboration to be able to get to a
(17:53):
decision that could help our residents, will total and help
our state. If I have that skill set that's able
to at least help manage that, then yeah, maybe I
do have a greater responsibility, but yeah, more from a
professional standpoint of Okay, I was in the room with
some people that were making very important decisions, and I
felt qualified and capable and competent, and I think it
(18:13):
helped my confidence as well.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
You probably had your daughter around the same time that
the crash was happening that you were managing all this
as a city attorney. That's not usually a time that
women say they want bigger responsibility.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
I remember my I was on attorney leave. I remember
having my daughter and a baby born while we were
having a meeting about unfortunately about reductions and force and thinking, oh,
this is so difficult, but you know, I wanted to
help the team, and there was the moment actually that
I decided to leave the city, I'll never forget it. It
was really late at night and I was hurrying to
sign her up for pre K or something, and I
(18:49):
remember thinking, I don't want to be here at ten
o'clock at night. I should be with my you know,
with my daughter. But we always have those those ebbs
and flows right in our lives and different things. I
didn't be myself up about it, but I just remember thinking,
this is probably time for me to try something.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
Different, ready for something new. Sandra spoke honestly about what
factored into her decision to leave public service and venture
into the corporate world.
Speaker 1 (19:11):
So when you.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
Left and you were thinking about looking for something else,
what did you prioritize in that search.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
I was looking for something that would definitely have some
stability for me to be able to have some control
and a little bit of autonomy, and something that was
different and fun, and honestly, I wanted to be able
to be a little more financially secure as well. And
I made the move to Atant.
Speaker 2 (19:33):
At this point, Sandra had made a name for herself
as deputy city attorney, building her connections and network along
the way. So It wasn't long before the state wanted
her back. She was appointed to sit on both the
Athletic Commission and the Gaming Control Board, all while still
working at AT and T. And from there, I don't
know it was directly, but you ended up at the
(19:54):
helm of the Gaming Control Board in Las Vegas. In
other states that be I don't know, like the Latto
or something, but in Nevada this is a serious position.
So okay, not only were you, I want to hear
what that was like to begin with, and then you
were running it when COVID.
Speaker 3 (20:12):
Nineteen hit, when the pandemic hit. You really are in
these you have such incremaicable timing.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
So Emily, my friends often say, don't go to public
service because every time you go back to public service,
there's a recession or a pandemic. So just stay like,
don't Yeah, for.
Speaker 3 (20:26):
The good of all of us. Yeah, for all of us.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
Please. Yeah, that was an incredible appointment. I was on
the Athletic Commission and new governor came in and appointing
me to be chair of the Gaming Control Board. It
is an incredibly important position for our state because gamings
are primary industry. This was something Emily going back to
my mother would meet. My mother incredibly proud because she
was working against swing shift Kino runner had to work
(20:51):
holidays because those positions don't give holidays off. And for
now me to be able to regulate that industry, so
a proud moment for her in me as well. But
you know, you're regulating everything from those five slot machines,
ten slot machines and a convenience store, to know, the
mega resorts on the strip, and incredibly well oiled machine.
Because gaming has been around for so long. To say
(21:14):
it's a welled oil machine is an understatement. The industry
is responsible for three hundred and sixty eight thousand jobs
and nine billion, yes billion, in economic impact. It's actually
larger than the airline industry.
Speaker 6 (21:28):
We contribute a quarter of a trillion dollars to the
economy and thirty eight billion dollars in taxes to local
and state governments around the country.
Speaker 7 (21:37):
The Economic Forum went over a number of revenue sources.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
They started with gaming taxes, which as we know, are
a major source for the state.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
Sandra was responsible for keeping the entire industry on track,
everything from licensing, regulation and enforcement to running the devices and.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
In the middle of that was the actually the repeal
of PASPA, which allowed states to legalized sports bedding.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
States and gaming companies can now legally allow betting on sports.
Speaker 5 (22:04):
That's because today the Supreme Court overturned a federal ban
on sports betting, calling it unconstitutional.
Speaker 1 (22:10):
So the big question for us is what does this
mean for Massachusetts.
Speaker 5 (22:13):
Development in America's sports industry. Today, America's highest court has
given the go ahead to bet on sports across the country.
Some experts say such a move could see thirty two
states offering sports betting within five years. A number of
stocks leaped on the news let's bring in Howard.
Speaker 1 (22:29):
So a very very busy time and an exciting time,
and cashles wagering was something that was front of mine.
I was at glat that we were able to kind
of push that through. As well as regulations on discrimination,
whether it be race, gender, sexual orientation, religion. That was
really important for me obviously personally as well as we're
looking at making sure we happened and that is an
inclusive workforce, but that our workforce is being treated properly
(22:50):
within the companies and the gaming entities, but also with
by customers.
Speaker 3 (22:53):
Okay, so COVID, Yeah, It was.
Speaker 1 (22:57):
Devastating, right, this is something that was unprecedented. The gaming
industry had never been closed ever. They're built to be
open twenty four to seven. The only time there was
an option was actually during JFK's funeral, they had the
option to be closed. So these doors are not meant
to be locked. They're open twenty four to seven. So,
you know, conversations about what do we do with the
casino cages right where you go get cash, where you
(23:19):
go get chips, where you go redeem your tickets. Initially
it was we kind of space things out every other
machine at table games doing every other because nobody knew.
I mean, it sounds a little silly now, but at
the time, and we were constantly monitoring the numbers and
the cases, and it was funny. Even as of March,
we didn't even have any confirmed cases in Nevada. But
then as soon as that hit, it was like okay,
(23:41):
now what and working with other states, clearly working with
the governor's office. The governor made the decision to open
and close, but as a head regulator, I would decide
how those decisions were going to be implemented.
Speaker 7 (23:51):
Las Vegas as we've never seen before heard before the
entire Vegas Strip shut down. One hundred percent of casino
doors closed, tourists gone.
Speaker 1 (24:04):
Empiness is like a ghost town.
Speaker 8 (24:06):
And it is like really sad.
Speaker 6 (24:07):
Everyone wants to know when will casinos get the green
light to reopen. We get some insight into how the
Gaming Control Board is making reopening decisions with the chairwoman,
Sandra Douglas Morgan. Another issue many people are worried about
is the coronavirus has effect, of course, on our city's economy.
Speaker 5 (24:22):
Yeah, Las Vegas has seen several large convention cancelations in
the last week, and that means less.
Speaker 8 (24:28):
Work for local businesses and hospitality employees.
Speaker 1 (24:31):
SASIA office, We didn't want to be a place that
was open for everyone when everything else was closed. In
other places, in other states where there was gaming, casinos
were one of the first things to be closed. But
in our state, when you closed it, it infected almost thirty
five to not forty percent of our population. We're on unemployment,
so you're trying to balance obviously this pandemic and what
(24:51):
that means, but also being able to stabilize and allowing
people to provide for their families. And then when you
have that many people who are unemployed, burden and crash
on the unemployment system right to even be able to
process all of that. So it was at that point
it was more than gaming regulation, you know. I was
talking to people about obviously COVID testing, working with our incredible,
(25:13):
honestly gaming partners because so many of them actually had
operations overseas and in China, and we're working with people
to obtain tests and masks and kits. It was really
at all hands on deck effort with the private sector
of the public sector, fire departments, counties, cities literally working
on with private jets to fly things in to make
sure employees and guests, you know, could be as safe
as possible. And it was true, it was. I spent
(25:36):
more time with medical professionals in February and definitely March,
in April, in May than my own team. So difficult
time for the state and just no one had a
blueprint or a playbook for it. But you talk about
a place being able to bounce back Las Vegas, you know,
you just don't ever count on us to be down
and out. I think the industry worked really well together.
(25:58):
It really made me proud, honestly to be a Novadon
as to how we were able to usher through that.
But I probably have never even satinly thought about the
impact and the process that that all had. But I was,
you know, devastating, obviously for large companies and small Her
pivot came knocking when she met the owner of the Raiders,
Mark Davis. The team had just made the move from
Oakland to Las Vegas, and we're quietly looking for a
(26:19):
leader who had ingrained knowledge of the city and could
lead tactfully to maintain their famous fan base while building
a new one. So we met when the team moved,
but I was in gaming and then I was at Comington.
I went to a firm before I came here, and he,
you know, Mark Davis has a humongous heart and is
really about not only taking care of the Raiders. It's
(26:40):
an employee first culture and he really was like, I
want to be woven into every single piece of the
Las Vegas community. He's like, we are the Las Vegas Raiders,
and you know, we want this community to love and
embrace us, and it's done great things for us from
the you know, from the stadium and from our headquarters
that are here in Henderson to really kind of embrace
this community. So I do think that helps as well.
(27:01):
And so we chatted about some things, things about the foundation,
things for more of a nonprofit lens and I was like,
that's not I mean, I want to help and we
love the Raiders. We were supportive as soon as the
team moved here. We want to dig in and help,
But for me not full time because I was kind
of enjoying some things. I actually joined some boards and
I was actually enjoying flexibility for the first time of
my life. And we always kept in contact. At the time,
(27:22):
I was the vice chair of the Host Committee and
so that I was appointed there through the Super Bowl
Host Committee, and so this would have been at the
time that the NFL announced the Super Bowls coming to Vegas.
The chairman of the Host Committee is Maray Gallagher, who's
the chair of Allegian Airlines. I serve on that board
as well, and we were announced kind of together as
being the chair and the co chair of the Host
(27:43):
Committee and what we're going to do to usher this
in and kind of lightning speed to bring it to
Las Vegas. Because kind of the bidding process, if you roll,
the application process changed a little bit and so I
go to the LA Super Bowl to kind of, you know,
check out things out, see what their volunteer program looks like.
And I see Mark Davis and he is like, hey,
you're always telling me no. And I said, I've never
told you no. I just said it wasn't the right fit.
(28:03):
But we always kind of kept in contact, and then
we just had some more serious conversations.
Speaker 2 (28:08):
Did he say when he came back to you and
you guys had these more serious conversations, did he say
what it was about you that made him say, yes,
you are the right person with the right experience for
this moment, for our challenges.
Speaker 1 (28:22):
Mark is very intentional, and this is where I'm slowly like.
He did make a comment. I think one of our
first conversations, and I remember I was driving with my
son and his name came up on the bluetooth in
the car. My son was like, is that really arkd
it was that's calling you? He said, I've heard a
lot of good things about you from people that don't
know each other. I remember he said something like that,
and so that's why I, as I have gotten to
know him, I was like, you know, who was it?
(28:43):
So I have a feeling now that you know, these
were people that I've met or interacted with, maybe someone gaming,
maybe some of the entertainment space, maybe some in the
legal space. And that's why I've always just said, you
never know who you're going to run into, and you
never know who's watching as well. But we have very
candid and frank discussions, which I think he appreciates as well. Ultimately,
(29:04):
that you know is he has the owner of this
team and has been with his team for over sixty years.
Fathers and obviously an incredible figure not just in sports,
but a leader as well.
Speaker 2 (29:14):
Sandra was announced as the president of the Las Vegas
Raiders in July of twenty twenty two, becoming the first
black female team president in the NFL and only the
third woman and third African American to hold the position
in the NFL's one hundred and three year history.
Speaker 1 (29:30):
I am just so grateful for him to have given me,
you know, this opportunity president. I never met a president
of an NFL team, really wasn't sure what to expect,
but for him, he is so incredibly candid that he
just said, hey, Sandra, if there's a problem here, we'll
fix it. And I'm sure, you're going to be fine.
And the Raiders have been here for a long time.
We have a lot of long term employees, and you
(29:51):
know you'll be okay. And even before the first owners meeting,
I was like, is there anything I needed? He's like,
you'll be fine. So to be able to have kind
of his support and just saying, hey, go go meet
with people, go figure this out. It's been an incredible
journey this far.
Speaker 3 (30:06):
What do you think?
Speaker 2 (30:06):
You know, there's always a learning curve if you get
into any job and you're.
Speaker 3 (30:10):
Like, wow, I am not as prepared for this piece
as I thought I was.
Speaker 2 (30:13):
So what are some of those you know, what do
you think since you came from a pretty different industry
you know, gaming and sporting in a little bit, but
like a different industry, So what pieces do you think
have best prepared you for this job? And what pieces
are you like, Okay, I need to lean on some
others to fill in this piece for me.
Speaker 1 (30:31):
Oh goodness, I'm an outsiders outsider for the NFL, Like
I've had an opportunity to meet some other presidents and
people do have different backgrounds, right, There's some lawyers or
some people that clearly have been you know finance backgrounds
more you know football operations backgrounds. But I'm definitely an outsiders. Outsider.
I had to understand the process with the NFL, and
that's going to be a work in process, and I'm
(30:51):
just not going to beat myself up to figure all
of that out in a month. It's just impossible. Right.
They have their constitution and bylaws, they have policies, they
have resolute there's always something that's going on, and so
I'm lucky enough to have people here in this organization
that have been here for a round that can understand that.
But we also have had significant turnover for our executives,
and so I've also told, you know, my executive team,
(31:14):
go out there, make the connections, understand it, but don't
kill yourself to think you have to know it all
on one day too, because you know, again there's other
resources and people that we can lean on. My priority
my first season was this organization and making sure that
I met everyone in this organization and understood what they meant,
that they believed that it meant to be a raider.
I could explain to people what my expectations were of
different departments, but I have been very open with people,
(31:36):
and I think I hope that people kind of appreciate
that saying, look, I don't know anything about stadium operations,
because why would I have to in my career, right,
So I'm going to trust you to do your job,
but I'm also going to expect that you let me
know if there's challenges, how I can help, what resources
you need. And I just want to make sure that
we stay on top and we're adopting best practices. But
(31:58):
I think, you know, pouring in to our employees and
letting them know that I'm here to support will hopefully
kind of build that help me gain that trust to
know that I'm here to support them. And if we're
all winning and wanting to be on the same page,
do what's best for the Raiders and then we'll get
to the right place.
Speaker 3 (32:11):
Where have you found camaraderie in that?
Speaker 2 (32:13):
I mean, to your point, it's only thirty two teams,
but actually you're in competition.
Speaker 1 (32:17):
Yeah, we're in competition on Sundays for sure. But I
will tell you, Emily, I did not know what that
relationship was like with other presidents. I've been so incredibly encouraged. Again,
because there's only thirty two they're dealing with the same issues.
You know, we've had, you know, some difficult challenges even
since I've been here, and people reaching out, you know,
to saying, hey, I'm here, if you need anything here,
if you need a vet here, if you need you know,
(32:38):
just to kind of walk through something. So it's great.
So from a business perspective, if we should all be
operating at a good level, because that makes the lead better. Right.
And I've been, you know, just again, really encouraged, and
I'm happy to have been able to make some good
friendships honestly with some of my colleagues and peers and
have found them to be a really good collaborative group.
(32:58):
I don't know all of them yet because I've only
been around for a little bit, but I've been able
to make some meaningful, I think relationships, and I'm incredibly
grateful for because they could have just said, hey, figure
it out on your own. But that has not been
the reception that I perceived this far.
Speaker 2 (33:11):
Well, taking on the team and going immediately into hosting
the Super Bowl, those are two like separate but also
huge endeavors.
Speaker 3 (33:20):
So what has preparing for the Super Bowl looked like
for you?
Speaker 1 (33:24):
So it's interesting. When I was vice chair, I was
not with the Raiders, so I you know, when we're
going through look at the process of looking at venues
and where we're going to host. I used to always say, oh,
just touch the Raiders. Well no, but in all seriousness,
my team here at the Raiders have been incredible. We
have people on every single committee for the host Committee.
The host committee itself has been great and working very
(33:45):
closely with the Las Vegas Convention in Misers Authority that
truly sells the destination and is a group, you know,
like Noahther Obviously, we have an incredible amount of conventions here,
so they're so skilled and working with hotels, knowing where
the event space is and so being able to work
with the host committee. And our executive director, Sam Joffrey
has been involved with the New Orleans Saints when they
host the last two Super Bowls, so we have the
(34:07):
expertise I'm hosting a Super Bowl. We have some of
the best venues in hotel rooms and in town obviously,
and we have the best destination and we have the
best team you know with the Raiders that are just
going to make sure that when we host this in
our home stadium that it's going to be an experience
like no other.
Speaker 8 (34:24):
Get ready, it's time for your next life changing, unforgettable moment,
because the greatest sporting event is coming to the greatest.
Speaker 3 (34:32):
Arena on Earth.
Speaker 8 (34:34):
It's more than the super Bowl. It's the super Bowl
in Las Vegas. February eleventh, twenty twenty four. The super
Bowl happens here.
Speaker 1 (34:45):
And you know, my goal obviously as president of the
Raiders is that they come back, and they come back
to enjoy a you know, a Raider game or an
event or a concert. The other thing that I think
is incredible is that we are one of maybe two
or three stadiums that are hundred percent powered by renewable energy,
so to be able to be legal certified for an
NFL stadium. To look at our composting efforts, our water
(35:06):
conservation efforts. I really hope having the super Bowl here
and being able for the Raiders to highlight that will
you know, kind of keep our sustainability initiatives front of
mine on top of mind while people are able to have,
you know, a once in a lifetime experience. For me
growing up in Las Vegas, I know the super Bowl
will be here and then it will be focused on
the next city, which is New Orleans. But I want
to make sure and I do believe that our executive
(35:28):
committeeans to make sure that there is a long impact,
positive impact that it's going to leave for the city,
whether it be our community and foundation events or are
you know the pitches that we're doing for local small
and women owned and diversal owned businesses to make sure
that they have opportunities to contract and work with different
companies in the NFL when it comes to the Super Bowl.
Speaker 2 (35:47):
So we obviously have to mention that you are the
first and only black female president of an NFL team.
You've said an interview that being the first black woman
president doesn't define success for you, but the legacy you
leave behind will.
Speaker 3 (36:02):
So what do you want that to look like?
Speaker 1 (36:05):
For me? It will be a success if I'm not
the last. And I'm incredibly proud of the fact that
I was the first black city attorney in the state
of Nevada and the first black person and second woman
to chair the Gaming Control Board. But on those two positions,
and this was you know, within the last ten years,
I wasn't the last, and that is important for me
right to be able to show people that people of
(36:26):
all different backgrounds, skill sets, we growths of what you
look like, have the ability to lead in these positions.
And what I'm hopeful to show in the Raiders is
that we're going to be successful for our business operations.
We're going to do everything we can to support the
young men that are on the field and our coaches
and our gms to make sure that we're never going
to be a distraction, but be able to be a strong, stabilizing,
(36:46):
revenue generating force so that the Raiders can continue to
be successful. And even though there's been no other black
women that have done it in the past, not going
to say if, but when I kill it, I hopefully
that will open the doors, you know, for other women.
And Emily, I've also said that I I knew there
was going to be some news, obviously with me being
the first, but the amount of feedback that I've gotten
just from women that have been in sports for so
(37:07):
long saying, you know, we've been waiting for this, we
want this, we want you to tell your story.
Speaker 8 (37:11):
You know.
Speaker 1 (37:12):
That's why I've been, you know, trying to kind of
open up more in and talk about it because this
is something that it's not just for one person. That's
not just for one type of person or someone with
one type of background. And I do think with sports
and entertainment and just the business of sports changing and evolving,
there's room for everyone at the table.
Speaker 3 (37:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (37:30):
And I also think an important part of that is
understanding the decision making process, like having transparency into how
we make these decisions. Like I love that you've spoken
about that when you're ready to seriously consider taking the job,
you consulted your family, and I think that's important for
people to hear, to be able to see themselves in
these positions of power as well.
Speaker 3 (37:48):
So what were those conversations, Like, Well, I.
Speaker 1 (37:50):
Love my husband, he's incredible. He is so supportive, but
with him being a former NFL player, he's like, what
are we talking about here? What's there to discuss?
Speaker 4 (37:58):
You're like, yes, you're in yeah, And I was like, well,
all your our children at the time and things like that.
But in all seriousness he was he was like, we
will do this together and I will support you, and
he has, honestly every step of the way.
Speaker 1 (38:10):
I was looking at another opportunity actually before I joined
the Raiders. That included some travel and I remember thinking,
oh my gosh, it's that too much travel. I've gone
every weekend. We've been able to kind of make it work.
Spoke with my family. I have a very close set
of girlfriends that I've had for over twenty years to
kind of talk about what this would be and it's
something that you really you can try to prepare for,
but you really don't know until you're in it, right,
(38:31):
And that's like with any other position. But talking to them,
it was you know, one, we can do it, we
can make it work. We'll have your back. That was
the type of support I needed, and for me having
this support of saying, look, honestly, if it doesn't work out,
that's something that I honestly learned at the City of
North Las Vegas times like sometimes you just have to
try and take a risk, take a chance on yourself.
Right know that you have and I'm lucky again have
(38:53):
a great support system. If it doesn't work out, then
you know, that's okay. But I didn't want to ever
think what if.
Speaker 2 (39:00):
What is something that at the time you saw as
kind of a negative in your life, Like you were like, oh,
I can't believe this is happening, But maybe like a
low point, but now in hindsight you see it as
really having added, like having put you in the position
where you are now.
Speaker 1 (39:14):
So the first and I think just because it's more
the more recent, was the pandemic and having so many
different people with our dominant industry, and obviously having people
being unemployed, and just the pressure of it all and
obviously the divisive nature of it saying no to people
a lot right, and me wondering, this may be time
for me to move after this, because I don't know
(39:35):
what this is going to look like. But what I
learned through that, even though there were very spirited meetings
and some really difficult conversations and obviously very difficult decisions
I had to make, was that I learned that people
would prefer to hear no than nothing at all. So
for me, that helped me, I think with my management
style and my team on saying they don't want to
hear no. They obviously want to hear yes, especially if
(39:56):
they're asking and posing a question to you. But if
you tell them no and why and communicate and say
but if something changes, I'll let you know. That I
think helped me and help the relationships that I have
now because many of the people honestly that are that
are Raiders partners now are people that I interacted with
and had to make some of those difficult conversations and
have those difficult discussions with. So that is something that
I think at a time, I thought, oh my goodness,
(40:18):
it is me, not me against the world, but you know,
sometimes they be gaming against everything, and that was a
learning point. The honor time was actually I applied. I
did not become city attorney on the first my first interview,
I was actually did not get at the first time,
but I remember a couple of council members talking to
me and saying, I didn't know you very well, and
(40:41):
I don't want you to leave, and I definitely see
a future for you here. So I'm grateful that you interviewed,
and we want to make sure that you're around. So
initially I thought, oh my goodness, I didn't get the job.
Should I leave? Should I go somewhere else? You know,
the person that knew I applied as well, would that
be odd? But to get that response that also was
something that Okay, you know, I'm glad I did it
because now maybe people know another side of me or
(41:02):
now they know who I am and know that I'm
valuable to this organization. So a drawback, I think, a
small drawback, but I think long term, the people that
saw me actually have that position, and some of them
weren't even on the council when I became city attorney. Again,
those type of relationships and being able to let people
know who you are and what you can bring to
the organization was definitely a turning point for me.
Speaker 3 (41:24):
Sandra, thank you so much for joining us. This has
been really, really great.
Speaker 1 (41:28):
Emily, thank you so much for having me on sheep Pivots.
This is a lot of fun.
Speaker 2 (41:34):
Sandra still lives in Las Vegas, but who knows, maybe
not for long. With her kids and her husband, she
is of course killing it as president of the Raiders
and is quietly building a legacy that will have an
impact on the NFL for generations to come. Look out
for her on your TV screens this weekend as the
vice chair of the Super Bowl host Committee and president
(41:56):
of the Hosting Team. She is truly running the chef.
Head over to our Instagram at she Pivots the podcast.
So tell us who you're rooting for this year and
what your Super Bowl friendship bracelet's going to say. Be
sure to follow Sandra on Instagram at sdmr raiders one
for all her latest updates on the Raiders. Thanks for listening.
(42:19):
Thanks for listening to this episode of she Pivots. If
you've made it this far, you're a true pivoter, So
thanks for being part of this community. I hope you
enjoyed this episode, and if you did leave us a rating,
please be nice.
Speaker 3 (42:32):
Tell your friends about us.
Speaker 2 (42:34):
To learn more about our guests, follow us on Instagram
at she Pivots the Podcast, or sign up for our
newsletter where you can get exclusive behind the scenes content,
or on our website, she Pivots the Podcast Talk to
You Next Week special thanks to the she Pivots team,
Executive producer Emily Edavlosk, Associate producer and social media connoisseur
(42:58):
Hannah Cousins, Research director Christine Dickinson, Events and logistics coordinator
Madeline Sonoviak, and audio editor and mixer Nina Pollock.
Speaker 7 (43:08):
I endorse Cheap Pivots
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