Positive plays: Raiders report charitablework in Las Vegas

The NFL team’s annual Impact Playbook released Jan. 3 highlights several aspects of the Raiders’ community work, charitable contributions and ongoing relationships with former players.

Raiders President Sandra Douglass Morgan said the organization publishes the report each year to showcase that its “commitment to excellence” extends outside the football field.

“I think it tells a good story to what we stand for as a team,” Douglass Morgan told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Charitable work

The Raiders and their charitable arm, the Raiders Foundation, provided over $1.7 million in grants and donations to local charities and educational programs in 2024.

The team held its inaugural Silver &Black Gala last March, which raised $500,000 for the Legal Aid of Southern Nevada’s Resiliency and Justice Center.

“There are not too many organizations like the Raiders that recognize mental health,” Barbara Buckley, executive director of the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada, said in a statement.

The Raiders Foundation also awarded $500,000 in grants to 40 organizations during its spring and fall grant cycles.

“There’s a full-blown grant program; anyone can apply,” Douglass Morgan said. “There are grants ranging from $2,500 to $10,000 or $20,000. It’s a very open process for anyone who fits our foundational pillars, whether it be health and wellness, military and veterans or youth development.”

Environmental efforts

With Allegiant Stadium being the largest event venue in the state, the Raiders have made strides to ensure the club is as environmentally friendly as possible, according to the report.

With the team playing on natural grass and nearly 300 bathrooms and 1,430 toilets in Allegiant Stadium, water conservation is top of mind for the team, playing in drought-plagued Southern Nevada.

The Raiders saved 535 million gallons of water in 2024 with the use of high-efficiency fixtures in the stadium, the report said.

The hope is by publicizing the team’s water-saving efforts, homeowners and other business in the community will join the Raiders and do their part to help conserve the precious resource, Douglass Morgan said.

Ensuring the natural grass field, which sits outside of the stadium on nongame days and is moved into the stadium via a rail system, is ecofriendly, the Raiders also repurpose landscape waste each year. Last year, 46,460 pounds of grass clippings, landscape waste and serviceware were composted.

“As a team, the Raiders have always been on natural grass, and it’s something that our players have grown to expect,” Douglass Morgan said. “We want to keep that consistent here in Las Vegas. Even though grass uses water, we are able to divert and save millions of gallons of water in other ways.”

When UNLV football and other events take place in the stadium, artificial turf is used, which requires thousands of rubber turf pellets to be spread across the synthetic playing surface. Those rubber pellets are also repurposed, with 73,460 pounds of the tiny pieces diverted from area landfills.

With hundreds of thousands of eventgoers taking in events at Allegiant Stadium each year, food waste repurposing is also top of mind for the team. Last year, 747,580 pounds of food scraps were collected and donated to local livestock farms.

The Raiders’ continued sustainability efforts at the stadium led them to netting two Green Sports Alliance Play to Zero Awards.

“Our stadium’s cutting-edge design and sustainable practices not only enhance fan experience, but also minimize our environmental footprint,” Ray Brown, vice president of facility operations for Allegiant Stadium, said in a statement. By prioritizing green technologies and efficient resource management, we are setting new standard for stadiums everywhere.”

Small business inclusion

The Raiders organization aims to include minority- and female-owned businesses and small businesses as much as they can within the stadium or by helping them gain visibility through game day program advertising and other means.

Each year the Raiders host a small business showcase, giving selected businesses a chance to pitch their goods and services to stakeholders across the valley.

“We have so many incredible partners that are making sure that we are giving visibility to these small businesses,” Douglass Morgan said.

Alumni relations

The Raiders are known for keeping relations up with former players as much as any team in the NFL, which spurred the mantra of “Once a Raider, always a Raider.”

Routinely hosting former players at games and utilizing them for special events around the valley, this season’s annual Alumni Reunion brought in over 250 former players.

Looking to focus on the well-being of their former players and families, the Raiders hosted their first Alumni Wellness Weekend, which saw representatives from every NFL Benefit Provider offering valuable health services, including physical and mental. Based on discussions with the NFL, Douglass Morgan said it is believed to be the first-of-its-kind event in the league.

That is on top of the peer-to-peer program, where players who are exiting or exited the league can connect with alumni to assist in their transition out of professional sports.

“That’s really been a mandate of Mark Davis,” Douglass Morgan said. “He’s been really vocal saying that if it wasn’t for the alumni, and their blood, sweat and tears, we wouldn’t be able to have an incredible stadium and be able to give back the way that we do in the community and to them (alumni).”

Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on X.