The Las Vegas Aces players just got one of the best deals the WNBA has ever seen.
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, the city’s tourism arm, announced Friday that it will sponsor each of the 12 players on the Aces roster for a sum of $100,000, with no strings attached other than continuing to play basketball.
LVCVA president and CEO Steve Hill surprised the team in the locker room. The Aces players were, in one word, happy:
The way Hill explained it:
“Today we want to do something that’s new, something that I don’t think anyone has ever done before. We want to recognize you individually, we want to put some money in your pocket. We have an offer for you. We think it’s a great offer for us. We hope you find it a great offer for you. We would like to offer each of you, individually, a sponsorship for this year worth $100,000.
‘The offer is very simple. We want you to just play. We want you to continue representing Las Vegas, and if you do a three-peat, that’s the icing on the cake. That’s all.’
That’s not a small amount for any player from the two-time defending champions, especially those on the fringes of the roster.
For example, Kate Martin was not selected to be selected in the 2024 WNBA Draft, but was taken in the second round and made the team. She will earn $67,249 per Spotrac this season, just a few thousand above the league minimum, and will now receive more than that with just one sponsorship deal.
Only four second-round picks made their teams this season, meaning Martin essentially played her way from $0 to $167,249.
The team showed its gratitude on social media:
Meanwhile, A’ja Wilson’s former coach saw an opportunity to approach her for a donation:
Damn, y’all get 6-figure NIL team deals?! Sir, do you all have leftovers, we represent LV too?!! Aayyee @_ajawilson22 Can you donate that change to us?! @GamecockWBB 🤣🤣🤣
— Dawnstaley (@dawnstaley) May 17, 2024
As explained by Callie Lawson-Freeman of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the LVCVA secretly worked with each of the players’ agents and structured the deals similarly to the Name, Image, Likeness deals you saw in college. The players are sponsored because they are players. A total of $1.2 million is a hefty sum for players who were already on the team. Hill noted in the Review-Journal that his agency has a roster of more than 100 influencers that it pays regularly.
It was definitely a good week for the Aces, who visited the White House on May 9 to celebrate their second straight WNBA championship and defeated the Phoenix Mercury 89-80 to open their season on Tuesday.
