🏆 Launching Teams, Building Fans, Leading at the Raiders

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Tahira Bellot is the Director, Premium Service for the Las Vegas Raiders, where she leads service and retention for the team’s premium membership base at Allegiant Stadium. She started her career with internships in communications at Orlando City SC and Atlanta United during their inaugural MLS seasons before moving into ticket sales with the Atlanta Hawks and San Francisco 49ers. She was promoted to Director with Elevate Sports Ventures to launch the Seattle XFL franchise, later served as Director of Ticket Sales and Operations at Nashville Superspeedway during its relaunch, and worked in ticket sales and membership services with the Dallas Wings in the WNBA. Along the way, she also helped launch Panther City Lacrosse Club in Fort Worth.

From Boston to Orlando: A Spark for Sports

Tahira grew up in Boston before moving to Orlando ahead of high school. That shift made an impression.

“Boston is one standard deviation away from psychotic when it comes to sports fans,” she laughs. “In Florida it was all about college football which I wasn’t used to, so I was experiencing sports culture shock.That’s when I knew I wanted to work in sports. I wanted people to support the team in the city they lived in.”

She went to college initially for psychology at Hampton University, but life got in the way. After a ten-year break, she returned to finish her degree in sports marketing and media at Full Sail University. That reset opened the door to her first internships – communications roles with Orlando City SC and later Atlanta United during their inaugural MLS seasons.

Breaking In: From Sales Floors to Innovation

Like many in sports, Tahira’s first full-time role came in ticket sales; inside sales with the Atlanta Hawks. She thrived. “I was one of the top sellers, but when it was clear they weren’t going to promote me, I focused on finding another opportunity,” she says. So she kept moving forward.

A leap west brought her to the San Francisco 49ers as a sales consultant. The team struggled on the field, but Tahira saw an opportunity off it. She pitched prospecting events that brought in more than half a million dollars in new revenue, while creating the team’s first-ever locker room event. That work got the attention of Niners leadership and led to her first director role with Elevate Sports Ventures, launching the XFL’s Seattle franchise.

Pioneering in Nashville

When the XFL folded in 2020, Tahira was recruited to NASCAR’s Nashville Super Speedway. There, she became one of the first Black executives driving revenue in the sport. She tapped into Nashville’s Black business community, creating partnerships with Tennessee State University, Uncle Nearest Whiskey, the National Museum of African American Music and Slim & Husky’s Pizza.

The result: 300 HBCU alumni experienced NASCAR in a VIP way. The program won NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity award and helped reshape perceptions of who belonged at the track. “It was about exposure,” she says. “Showing people what was possible and making them feel welcome.”

Lessons in Trust and Creativity

Throughout her journey, trust has been a theme. She recalls her Elevate boss who came to Seattle to help launch the XFL. “He planned to stay for a month but left after three days,” she says. “He trusted me. That gave me confidence and the freedom to figure it out.”

That trust allowed her creativity to thrive, whether pioneering sales events for the 49ers or designing community-driven programs in NASCAR. “Give me a seat at the table and I’ll show you what I’m capable of,” she says.

Advice for the Next Generation

When asked what advice she’d give her younger self, Tahira keeps it simple: patience. “I had all the intangibles. I just needed the right opportunity,” she says. It took her two full years after graduation to land her first inside sales role. “I’d tell myself, ‘It will happen. Just keep doing the things you’re supposed to do.’”

For students today, her message is even sharper: “Nothing is beneath you. Try everything. If you can get in as an intern, that’s your time to impress them. All you really need is a foot in the door.”

Her Why

For Tahira, it all comes back to family. A first-generation American with roots in Jamaica and Dominica, her grandmother was a passionate sports fan who watched everything from the Olympics to soccer. “My family came here for education and a better life,” she says. “For me, it’s about making sure I’m better than the generation before and leaving something greater for the generation after. I don’t want their sacrifices to be in vain.”

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