WNBA Investigating LVCVA Endorsement of Las Vegas Aces Players

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority announced on Friday a $100,000 per year sponsorship to each active player on the Las Vegas Aces for the next two seasons, celebrating the two-time defending WNBA champions with a deal that within 24 hours was being looked into by the league as a potentially illegal extra benefit.

The deal, which the LVCVA brokered with each player’s agents, was announced by LVCVA President and Chief Executive Officer Steve Hill on Friday after the team’s scheduled practice.

“There are no better representatives for Las Vegas than these champion athletes,” said Hill. “A first of its kind sponsorship deal with the players directly creates a win for them and a win for our destination. This partnership builds on the current momentum of sports tourism and the popularity of women’s professional sports.”

The two-time WNBA champion team was the first to bring home a championship to Las Vegas. An ESPN story over the weekend said the website Spotrac, which tracks player salaries, shows the sponsorship is higher than the earnings of six Aces players. A’ja Wilson and Kelsey Plum are the highest-paid Aces at $200,000 each.

“[For] the LVCVA to see our value and to help close that pay gap, it says a lot about the character of the people that are there,” said Aces player Alysha Clark, who makes $110,000 a year.  “I’m honored to be able to represent this organization and this city and be able to put on for the city, give back to this city and pour into the community, and that’s what they did for us.”

A league spokesperson confirmed to ESPN there is an open investigation looking into the deal. The WNBA took away the Aces’ 2025 first-round draft pick following an investigation that found the franchise violated league rules regarding impermissible player benefits and workplace policies and it also suspended coach Becky Hammon for two games.

The sponsorship does not violate the WNBA’s salary cap, ESPN reported, but other teams are likely to raise questions whether it violates the spirit of the cap rules.

“They’re investing in us and so they put their money where their mouth is,” Aces guard Chelsea Gray said before Saturday’s game, a win at home over the Los Angeles Sparks on national TV. “We’ve done so much for the city and having fun doing it. It was a great moment for me and my teammates, of somebody actually putting funds behind, saying that they’re supporting and they want to have our back.”