When did the Raiders change their name?
66 years ago the Raiders name changed from the Señors to the name the franchise uses today.
Video Transcript
For nine days in 1960, the Oakland Raiders were known as the Senors.
One of the saddest looking wreaths we've ever seen commemorates the death of the Oakland Senors.
On this day, 66 years ago, the Raiders had partnered with the Oakland Tribune to hold a contest to come up with a name for the team.
More than 10,000 submissions were made.
A few of the finalists were the Admirals, Lakers, Raiders, Diablos, Mavericks, Sea Wolves, Nuggets, Senors, Dons, Jets, and Dolphins.
A woman named Helen Davis suggested the name Senors and won the contest.
Davis stated that the name symbolizes the history, strength, and solidarity of the old world of California.
However, by the next day, there were already questions about the new name.
The City Council disapproved the name four to one.
The mayor said he had not come across anyone who liked the name.
A councilman threatened that he would sell his interest in the team due to displeasure of the name.
So finally, on April 14th, Oakland management changed the name to the Raiders.
The winner of the new name choice was Kendrick Martin, one of 26 people who submitted the name the Raiders, but he won a trip to Mexico, the organization claiming that they liked Kendrick's reasoning the best.
The Raiders has been the name ever since.
