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Las Vegas Aces players received news on May 17 that the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) would be sponsoring each of them, paying all 12 rostered Aces players $100,000 each.
The city of Las Vegas’ X account posted a video of LVCVA President and CEO Steve Hill delivering Aces players the news.
Multiple Aces players have since reacted to the announcement on social media.
“A life-changing investment! We’re SO appreciative and love representing this city!” Aces guard Sydney Colson wrote on X.
2023 WNBA Finals MVP A’ja Wilson replied to an Aces X video of her dancing at a May 17 practice, writing, “Me when they told me we were getting 100k lmaooo”.
Las Vegas guard Chelsea Gray wrote on X, “Las Vegas is setting the standard. Grateful to be a part of a city that continues to show up and show out for us. Honored to be able to represent it! Thank you @Vegas”.
“This city and this organization are the standard!! I am grateful to represent both every day! We are SO appreciative of their desire to invest in us 🙏🏽 Thank you @Vegas!” said guard Alysha Clark.
Guard Kiah Stokes added, “Thankful and grateful. The support from the Vegas community has been top tier and is much appreciated 🙏🏽”.
The Las Vegas Aces’ Sponsorship Explained
Callie Lawson-Freeman from the Las Vegas Review-Journal wrote a May 17 article detailing the LVCVA’s sponsorship. In the article, Steve Hill said that the Aces players had no idea the sponsorship was coming.
“It all came together really quickly,” Hill said. “We had folks on our marketing team bring it up, maybe for the first time late last week.”
Lawson-Freeman wrote, “The LVCVA worked directly with players’ agents to reach the agreements. They are similar to a name, image and likeness (NIL) deal between a third party and an NCAA student-athlete. It’s a first-of-its-kind partnership, according to Hill, and had to be negotiated without knowledge of the team because of WNBA rules.”
“However, each player signed a contract to “reach mutually agreeable opportunities for appearances on Las Vegas’ behalf,”” Lawson-Freeman wrote. “The LVCVA will also provide players with Las Vegas-centric gear that they will be expected to wear to promote the city.”
In the X video of Hill delivering the sponsorship news to the Aces players, he said, “The offer is really simple. We want you to just play, we want you to keep repping Las Vegas, and if you get a three-peat, that would be the icing on the cake.”
The Las Vegas Aces’ Quest to Three-Peat
The only WNBA franchise to ever win three consecutive championships was the now-disbanded Houston Comets, who won the first four WNBA titles from 1997-2000.
Being just one of three franchises to win back-to-back titles (with the third being the Los Angeles Sparks in 2001 and 2002), the Aces have already cemented themselves in WNBA history.
Although they don’t seem satisfied. Las Vegas is currently at +100 to win the 2024 WNBA title, per ESPN. They’ve returned all five starters from their 2023 championship squad, and started the 2024 regular season with an 89-80 win over the Phoenix Mercury.
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