After spending the entirety of their existence in California, the Oakland/Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders are almost certainly (as of this posting) headed to Las Vegas. I’m not quite sure how I feel about the move, being a lifelong Raiders fan. After all, I don’t even live on the west coast. Still, it’s odd.
Nevertheless, I have a job to do. So as I did in anticipation of the Rams (and now Chargers) moving to Los Angeles, l present a visual history of professional football in Las Vegas, as seen through programs and other ephemera.
1968: Las Vegas Cowboys
The first real attempt at pro football in Sin City was an entry from a favorite of mine, the Continental Football League. The Cowboys began, coincidentally enough, as the Rock Island/Quad Cities Raiders of the short-lived, semi-pro Professional Football League of America. The team was purchased in 1968 by an Indianapolis businessman, who promptly pulled up stakes and relocated to Las Vegas.
The Cowboys finished the 1968 season with just one win, but improved drastically the next year. Of note, one of their two head coaches that year was former L.A. Rams tight end Duane Allen, who became the first black head coach in pro football’s modern era (a few decades before Art Shell of the NFL).
In 1969, the final season of the CFL, Las Vegas won their division and advanced to the second round of the playoffs. After the 1969 season the franchise was again purchased, and plans for a move to Memphis, Tennessee were announced. With the dissolution of the CFL in 1970, the move was never completed and the Cowboys faded from history.
1994: Las Vegas Posse
A quarter century after the Cowboys folded, another CFL — the Canadian Football League — gave it a go in Las Vegas. In July 1993 the city was awarded a franchise, and in 1994 the Posse took the field for their one and only season, a dismal 5-13 campaign.
To say that local interest in the Posse was minimal would be an overstatement. The team did break the 10,000-fan mark during its first handful of games — in the brutal summer heat no less — but by the time the fall rolled around attendance figures were firmly planted in four figures. Fewer than 3,000 bothered to show up for what ended up being the team’s final home game against Winnipeg in October. In fact the Posse’s last scheduled home game had to be moved to Edmonton due to lack of interest.
1994: Las Vegas Sting
The same year the Posse rode into and right back out of town, the Arena Football League fielded the first of their three teams to play in Vegas. The first, the Sting, lasted just two seasons before moving to Anaheim, California to become the Piranhas.
2001: Las Vegas Outlaws
Few people watched the Las Vegas Outlaws of the XFL, and fewer still remember them. Just about the only notability the Outlaws achieved came from two things — they played in the league’s first nationally televised game and they were the home of Rod “He Hate Me” Smart. After a strong start, the Outlaws lost their last three games to finish in last place in their division with a record of 4-6-0, one game out of a playoff spot.
2003: Las Vegas Gladiators
The AFL’s second attempt at Vegas began when the New Jersey Gladiators surprised everyone by announcing a move west on the eve of the 2003 season. The Las Vegas Gladiators went 31–50 in five years, making the playoffs just once. After the end of the 2007 season the team announced they were moving once again, this time to Cleveland.
2009: Las Vegas Locomotives
If you missed the three-plus seasons of the United Football League you weren’t alone. They played just a handful of games during the fall, and so were completely overshadowed by the NFL. Nevertheless, the Locos — led for their entire existence by former New York Giants head coach Jim Fassel — were the dominant team in the league. They won the first two UFL championships and fell just short of a third title. They were 4-0 when the UFL canceled their 2012 season and, eventually, the whole league.
