Aces get $100K LVCVA sponsorships again despite WNBA probe
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority is sponsoring Aces players for the second straight season, offering each player on the roster $100,000.
It appears as if every member of the team has signed contracts, LVCVA president Steve Hill told the Review-Journal on Monday. There are currently 13 players on the roster, including Megan Gustafson (injured) and Cheyenne Parker-Tyus (pregnant).
This development comes after the WNBA said it was opening an investigation into the Aces one day after the LVCVA announced the first sponsorships in May 2024.
Hill said the LVCVA has not heard from the WNBA regarding the status of the investigation. At April’s WNBA draft, commissioner Cathy Engelbert said there were still no updates in the probe.
“I don’t know the inner workings of the league,” Hill said. “I’m not looking to cause more of an issue, and it doesn’t seem like there’s an issue there. So we’re just moving forward.”
The Aces did not respond to a request for comment.
Reigning MVP A’ja Wilson, shooting guard Jewell Loyd, point guard Chelsea Gray, center Kiah Stokes and forward Crystal Bradford attended Janet Jackson’s residency at Resorts World last week as part of the sponsorships, Hill confirmed.
The players were recorded and photographed while enjoying the concert and meeting Jackson in a social media post shared to the official “Vegas” accounts. Coach Becky Hammon and Wilson’s boyfriend, Bam Adebayo of the Miami Heat, were also in attendance.
“Clearly, this has been an opportunity for both the players and the LVCVA in Las Vegas. And that’s what a sponsorship is supposed to be. I think it has worked out really well,” Hill said. “It’s been fun. It’s what we said it was a year ago. And we’re excited to be able to do it for year two. From our standpoint, there really isn’t all that much more to say.”
When asked how the sponsorships benefited the LVCVA last year, Hill pointed to the decision to post a video of himself and other LVCVA board members informing Aces players of the deals, which has received 2.2 million views on X.com alone.
“The announcement itself made it a success, just all by itself,” he said. “There was an awful lot of attention and eyeballs on Las Vegas.”
That’s the goal of the LVCVA, which is the “official destination marketing organization of Southern Nevada,” tasked with promoting tourism, conventions, meetings and special events.
The LVCVA pulls revenue from hotel and motel room taxes and from space rental for booths at conventions and trade shows at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
Last year’s announcement was scrutinized after Hill told the players all they needed to do to receive the funds was play and “keep repping Las Vegas.”
Public records revealed that their contracts required players to make “mutually agreeable opportunities for appearances on Las Vegas’ behalf,” but it took a while for the entire team to commit to the deals.
Hill said everything was negotiated directly with players’ agents without any participation from the Aces last year.
He maintained the same was true this year — with fewer hurdles.
“It went more smoothly this year than last year,” Hill said. “Last year we had to work through contract language and work through expectations. Nobody had experienced the process, so there were understandable questions and maybe a little bit of concern. But this year, everybody has seen what we asked and allowed the players to do.”
Some of the more successful marketing outings the Aces participated in last year were appearances at the Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix and a day at the Fontainebleau Las Vegas spa, according to Hill.
Those excursions were part of a broad spectrum of opportunities the LVCVA hopes to offer the Aces with consideration of a Las Vegas Bucket List menu they were given to choose from this year and last year, Hill said.
The league’s investigation — the cause of which has not been publicly addressed — most likely intends to determine whether the Aces conspired with the LVCVA to go over the WNBA’s salary cap and pay players under the table.
As he did last year, Hill insisted the LVCVA simply wanted to pursue a creative advertising endeavor that called attention to the pay discrepancy between men’s and women’s sports.
The WNBA’s supermax contract was about $242,000 for 2024, while the minimum salary for players with zero to two years of service was $64,154.
“This was not in coordination with the team, and there was not an attempt to support the salary cap,” Hill said. “It’s just a sponsorship that helps draw attention to the pay levels of players. So getting those ambassadors out there and making them a part of our marketing effort has been great.”
Contact Callie Fin at cfin@reviewjournal.com. Follow @CallieJLaw on X.
