Born and raised in Las Vegas, Morgan became the first black City Attorney in Nevada, the first African-American Chair of the Nevada Gaming Control Board, and is now the first black woman to be President of an NFL team.
When asked how her experience from these roles can help her club, the NFL and indeed the industry in general embrace sports betting, she commented: “I do think my experience will help, not only with the league but with the Raiders as well.
“At least knowing where people stand [on sports betting], even if it’s a no, even if it’s not yet, that’s better than just being left in the dark. I think that the position taken by the NFL on sports gambling is understandably measured, because the long-term success of this industry and the partnerships that some of the operators and manufacturers have with the NFL are really important not to just be a short game, but a long game."
She then touched on the increasingly significant matter of integrity, and how the NFL is dealing with this issue, saying: “Game integrity has to be at the forefront of everything, because if that is even broken or weakened in any way, it really not only negatively affects the league, but it affects everyone.
“So I applaud the NFL’s efforts focusing on responsible gaming. Some fans are embracing gaming - 31 jurisdictions have now approved sports wagering - but some are not. So what’s the balance for people that are watching those games? How much is too much?”
Morgan also explained the importance of working together as an industry, in order to firstly go about legalising gaming the right way, but also then approaching the subsequent growth of sports betting properly too.
“I grew up around gaming, I’m aware of the process, and so I know that many of the licensees are very, very thoroughly vetted here,” said the Raiders President. “And we’re also seeing this with other states when they’re coming online, it’s still a nascent industry, those regulatory structures are still growing and being tested. So it needs to be a balanced approach, and I think it’s important that the industry obviously works together.
“It’s really important that the regulators continue to work together to make sure that we're all moving along and understanding that we can continue to support regulated, legalised gambling. That is the most important thing that I hope everyone in this room can agree upon, to make sure that we’re doing it the right way, that we’re not putting customers and others into the illegal market.”
