Las Vegas Raiders Give $1M to Uvalde School District to Fortify Campuses

Posted on: June 20, 2022, 08:32h. 

Last updated on: June 20, 2022, 11:25h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More

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The NFL Las Vegas Raiders have bequeathed $1 million to the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District (CISD) in Texas.

The Uvalde CISD’s Robb Elementary School was the site of the May 24, 2022, mass shooting that killed 19 students, two teachers and wounded 17 others. Raiders owner Mark Davis presented the public school district with a $1 million gift via Zoom last week.

“We are proud to be part of something to make the children in these schools safer,” Davis said.

The horrific mass shooting hit close to the Raiders franchise. Former defensive back Vann McElroy played on the then-Los Angeles Raiders when the team won the 1983 Super Bowl, the organization’s last NFL championship, attended and graduated from Uvalde High School in the late 1970s.

[Vann] told me about the hurt his hometown was going through. Vann told me that he had a grandson attending public school. He said his family thought about having him go to a private school next year, but he wanted him to attend public school as Vann and his son had done growing up in Uvalde. He said that Uvalde was in pain and needed help. I asked him what we could do to help ease that pain,” Davis said of the team’s contribution.

McElroy expressed his gratitude to the Raiders in a statement.

“In all the years that I played for the Raiders, this organization took care of me and my family, and has looked out for the players and all members of the Raiders family,” McElroy commented. “This all began with Mark’s dad, Al Davis… I know that Al would be proud of this contribution made by Mark and the organization.”

Community Steward

Las Vegas was long shunned by professional and collegiate sports organizations because of the city’s widespread legal sports betting outlets. But that all changed in May 2018, when the US Supreme Court said the legality of sports betting is a state’s right and should not be legally determined by the federal government.

Since the landmark ruling, more than 30 states have legalized gambling on sports. Though the NHL Vegas Golden Knights were the casino town’s first “big four” professional sports franchise, Davis moving the Raiders from Oakland to Sin City in 2020 made Southern Nevada a major sports destination.

Along with bringing at minimum eight NFL regular-season games to the Strip, the Raiders Foundation came with the franchise. The team’s nonprofit arm is focused on military and veterans programs, youth development, and growing the game of football.

The Raiders are gearing up for the 2022-23 season, which kicks off September 8. DraftKings has the Raiders’ regular season over/under win total at 8.5 wins. The team is a distant 40/1 to win the Super Bowl.

School Armor

The Raiders’ $1 million gift to the Uvalde CISD will be used to better protect the district’s schools in hopes of preventing a similar attack from occurring again.

The funds will pay for installing impenetrable doors and an unscalable fence surrounding each campus’ perimeter. Surveillance cameras will also be installed inside and outside of the schools.