Editing Las Vegas Raiders (section)

===Founding of the franchise===
Max Winter, a Minneapolis businessman was among the eight proposed franchise owners in the American Football League. In a move typical of the NFL owners who were frightened by the prospect of competition and continually obstructed the new league, they offered Winter an expansion franchise in the NFL. This was after the NFL had rejected Lamar Hunt's feelers, saying they were not interested in expansion. One of many obfuscations put forward by the NFL in its attempt to derail the AFL.

After the AFL's first draft, in which players were selected for the then nameless Minneapolis franchise, Winter reneged from his agreement with the AFL owners and defected to the NFL with a franchise that started play in 1961 and was named the [[Minnesota Vikings]]. The Vikings were never an AFL team, nor did they have any association with the AFL. Many of the players (including Abner Haynes) that had been assigned to the UNNAMED and defunct Minneapolis AFL franchise were signed by some of the seven loyal remaining members of the AFL's '[[Foolish Club]]'.

The city of Oakland was awarded the eighth AFL franchise on January 30, 1960.<ref name="k253">{{cite magazine | last=LaMarre | first=Tom | title=Raider History: Vikings Led to Oakland Landing AFL Team | magazine=Sports Illustrated | date=2023-12-02 | url=https://www.si.com/nfl/raiders/the-black-hole-plus/vikings-raiders-oakland-senors | access-date=2024-08-10}}</ref> Once the consortium of owners was found for the eighth franchise, the team was named the Raiders.<ref name="hof">{{cite web |url=http://www.profootballhof.com/history/team.jsp?franchise_id=23 |title=Pro Football Hall of Fame – Oakland Raiders |access-date=January 19, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061230070530/http://www.profootballhof.com/history/team.jsp?franchise_id=23 |archive-date=December 30, 2006 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>Dickey, ''Just Win, Baby'', p. 7.</ref> Because many of the defunct Minneapolis franchise's originally drafted players were signed by other AFL teams, the AFL held an 'allocation' draft, in which each team earmarked players that could be chosen by the Raiders.

The Minneapolis group did not take with them any of the rights to players they drafted when they defected to the NFL, because their first draft in that league was in 1961. The Raiders were not originally in Minnesota as some claim. They were a new, charter franchise in the [[American Football League]]. One reason they were so weak in the first few years of the AFL was that the other AFL teams did not make quality players available in the allocation draft.

At the time, Oakland seemed an unlikely venue for a professional football team. The city had not asked for a team, there was no ownership group and there was no stadium in Oakland suitable for pro football (the closest stadiums were in [[Berkeley, California|Berkeley]] and San Francisco) and there was already a successful NFL franchise in the [[San Francisco Bay Area|Bay Area]] in the [[San Francisco 49ers]]. The AFL owners selected Oakland after [[Los Angeles Chargers]] owner [[Barron Hilton]] threatened to forfeit his franchise unless a second team was placed on the West Coast.<ref>Dickey, ''Just Win, Baby'', pp. 7–8.</ref>

Upon receiving the franchise, Oakland civic leaders found a number of businesspeople willing to invest in the new team. A [[limited partnership]] was formed to own the team headed by managing general partner [[Chet Soda|Y. Charles (Chet) Soda]] (1908–1989), a local real estate developer, and included general partners Ed McGah (1899–1983), Robert Osborne (1898–1968), [[F. Wayne Valley]] (1914–1986), restaurateur Harvey Binns (1914–1982), Don Blessing (1904–2000), and contractor Charles Harney (1902–1962)<ref>Harney was the builder of San Francisco's Candlestick Park, built on a bleak parcel of land he owned; to date, the road leading to the stadium is known as Harney Way. With a push from Harney, the Raiders were allowed to play their final three 1960 home games at Candlestick.</ref> as well as numerous limited partners.

The [[1960 Oakland Raiders season|Raiders]] finished their first campaign with a 6–8 record, and lost $500,000. Desperately in need of money to continue running the team, Valley received a $400,000 loan from [[Buffalo Bills]] founder [[Ralph C. Wilson Jr.]]<ref name="dvd">{{cite video |people=[[Steve Sabol]] (Executive Producer) |date=2004 |title=Raiders – The Complete History |medium=DVD |publisher=NFL Productions LLC}}</ref>

After the conclusion of the first season Soda dropped out of the partnership, and on January 17, 1961, Valley, McGah and Osborne bought out the remaining four general partners. Soon after, Valley and McGah purchased Osborne's interest, with Valley named as the managing general partner.

In 1962 Valley hired Al Davis, a former assistant coach for the San Diego Chargers, as head coach and general manager. In April 1966 Davis left the Raiders after being named AFL Commissioner. Two months later, the league announced its [[AFL–NFL merger|merger with the NFL]]. With the merger, the position of commissioner was no longer needed, and Davis entered into discussions with Valley about returning to the Raiders. On July 25, 1966, Davis returned as part owner of the team. He purchased a 10% interest in the team for US$18,000, and became the team's third general partner. As part of the deal, Davis was also given control over football operations.<ref name="burke"/><ref name="Dickey, Just Win, Baby, p. 41"/>

In 1972, with Wayne Valley out of the country for several weeks attending the [[1972 Summer Olympics|Olympic Games]] in Munich, Davis's attorneys drafted a revised partnership agreement that made him the new managing general partner, with complete control over all of the Raiders' operations. McGah, a supporter of Davis, signed the agreement. Under partnership law, by a 2–1 vote of the general partners, the new agreement was thus ratified. Valley was furious when he discovered this, and immediately filed suit to have the new agreement overturned, but the court sided with Davis and McGah.

In 1976 Valley sold his interest in the team. Although Davis only owned 25 percent of the team, no other partners have had any voice in team operations since.<ref name="burke" /><ref>Dickey, ''Just Win, Baby'', pp. 98–101.</ref>

====Current ownership structure====
Legally, the club is owned by a nine-member limited partnership. A. D. Football, Inc., the company founded by Al Davis to hold his interest, is the sole general partner. The heirs of the original eight partners are limited partners.

From 1972 onward, Davis had exercised near-total control of the Raiders as president of A.D. Football, Inc. Although exact ownership stakes are not known, it has been reported that Davis owned 47% of the team shares before his death in 2011. The limited partners have almost no role in team operations, though they were briefly mentioned in team media guides. Many of them had not watched, let alone attended, Raiders games in years at the time of Davis' death.<ref name="silence">{{cite news |first=Mark |last=Zeigler |title=Silence of elders tells on Raiders |url=http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/oct/31/silence-elders-tells-raiders/?chargers |newspaper=[[San Diego Union-Tribune]] |date=October 31, 2009 |access-date=October 31, 2009 |archive-date=July 28, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728025939/https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-silence-elders-tells-raiders-2009oct31-story.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Ed McGah, the last surviving member of the original ownership group, died in September 1983. Upon his death, his interest was devised to a family [[Trust law|trust]], of which his son, [[Eddie McGah|E.J. McGah]], was the [[trustee]]. The younger McGah was himself a part-owner of the team, as a limited partner, and died in 2002. Several members of the McGah family filed suit against Davis in October 2003, alleging mismanagement of the team by Davis. The lawsuit sought monetary damages and to remove Davis and A. D. Football, Inc. as general partner. Among their specific complaints, the McGahs alleged that Davis failed to provide them with detailed financial information previously provided to Ed and E.J. McGah. The Raiders countered that—under the terms of the partnership agreement as amended in 1972—upon the death of the elder McGah in 1983, his general partnership interest converted to that of a limited partner. The team continued to provide the financial information to the younger McGah as a courtesy, though it was under no obligation to do so.<ref name="lawsuit">{{cite news|first=Paul T |last=Rosynsky |title=Raiders co-owner wants to boot Davis |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4176/is_20031015/ai_n14561183 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20071013235455/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4176/is_20031015/ai_n14561183 |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 13, 2007 |newspaper=[[Oakland Tribune]] |date=October 15, 2003 |access-date=January 29, 2007 }}</ref>

The majority of the lawsuit was dismissed in April 2004, when an Alameda County Superior Court judge ruled that the case lacked merit since none of the other partners took part in the lawsuit. In October 2005 the lawsuit was settled out of court.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.raidersrap.com/court-mcgah.html|title=court-mcgah|website=www.raidersrap.com|access-date=2019-10-25|archive-date=November 8, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111108111747/http://raidersrap.com/court-mcgah.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The terms of the settlement are confidential, but it was reported that under its terms Davis purchased the McGah family's interest in the Raiders (approximately 31%), which gave him for the first time a majority interest, speculated to be approximately 67% of the team.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DnCsBwAAQBAJ&q=2004+oakland+raiders+McGah&pg=PA298|title=Sports in America from Colonial Times to the Twenty-First Century: An Encyclopedia: An Encyclopedia|last=Riess|first=Steven A.|date=2015-03-26|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781317459477|language=en}}</ref> As a result of the settlement, confidential details concerning Al Davis and the ownership of the Raiders were not released to the public.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rosynsky |first=Paul T.  |date=2005-10-21 |title=Raiders ownership suit settled |url=https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2005/10/21/raiders-ownership-suit-settled/ |access-date=2024-05-16 |website=East Bay Times |language=en-US}}</ref>

In 2006 it was reported that Davis had been attempting to sell the 31% ownership stake in the team obtained from the McGah family. He was unsuccessful in this effort, reportedly because the sale would not give the purchaser any control of the Raiders, even in the event of Davis's death.<ref name="ownership">{{cite news|first=Nancy |last=Gay |title=No takers for 31% share of Raiders |url=http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2006/11/25/SPG19MJJS01.DTL |work=San Francisco Chronicle |date=November 25, 2006 |access-date=January 29, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013213254/http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fchronicle%2Farchive%2F2006%2F11%2F25%2FSPG19MJJS01.DTL |archive-date=October 13, 2007}}</ref>

Al Davis died on October 8, 2011, at age 82.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2011-10-08 |title=Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis has died |url=https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/oakland-raiders-owner-al-davis-has-died |access-date=2024-05-19 |website=NBC Sports |language=en-US}}</ref> According to a 1999 partnership agreement, Davis' interest passed to his wife, [[Carol Davis (American football)|Carol]].<ref name="ownership" /> After Davis' death, Raiders chief executive [[Amy Trask]] said that the team "will remain in the Davis family."<ref>{{cite news|last=Tafur|first=Vic|title=Davis family will retain ownership of Raiders|url=http://www.sfgate.com/raiders/tafur/article/Davis-family-will-retain-ownership-of-Raiders-2328012.php|newspaper=[[San Francisco Chronicle]]|page=B-9|date=October 9, 2011|access-date=September 18, 2015|archive-date=September 10, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150910084547/http://www.sfgate.com/raiders/tafur/article/Davis-family-will-retain-ownership-of-Raiders-2328012.php|url-status=live}}</ref> Al and Carol's son, [[Mark Davis (American football)|Mark]], inherited his father's old post as managing general partner and serves as operating head of the franchise. Unlike his father, Mark mostly leaves on-field matters to the football operations staff.