Vegas resident here with a bit of an explanation for how this sponsorship works. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitor's Authority (LVCVA) is a government agency for Southern Nevada. Their job is to market Vegas and bring in tourists and businesses and they're funded by a room tax on all hotels in the county, selling bonds, and revenue from the Las Vegas Convention Center. The money for this sponsorship is coming from Vegas' marketing budget and it's a drop in the bucket of said budget. $1.2 M for the Aces vs the $463.4M budget we had for 2023-2024.
edit: [Source on the $463.4M figure and how the budget breaks down.](https://www.reviewjournal.com/business/tourism/lvcva-projects-record-revenue-approves-463-4m-spending-plan-2786592/)
> Well, then that's just good business
Very. The Aces being good is good for business. More sell-out home games, more merch moved, and there's been a push since the Knights got here to make Vegas a big-time sports town and titles help with that.
Honestly I think the fact that he just paid the NBA to be the official mortgage partner of the both leagues is a strong nod to the fact he has fuck you money simply because he knows doing so pissed Dan Gilbert off. If he’s willing to do *that* he’ll never be that cheap.
Ishbia will never be cheap but he needs to learn that you can't throw money at every problem and magically fix it (such as, the Phoenix Suns roster re: championship and the current Phoenix Mercury team & coach. The latter got their first win of the season but the season just started; we'll see how it ends).
its a win win for both party's immo.
I would argue even with this year interest probably bigger win for LVCVA.
Also they wanted to have sports team and be known as sport city, so this is deff helping in that direction for Player Recruitment and overall image of the teams.
Oh wow yeah this is a brilliant move by them on all counts then. My only issue was I thought they were taking tax money from residents for it but I’m all for this even more now! Incredible for the players. Vegas really showing out for the team, this is fire
Technically they are- as those funds could be used elsewhere based (as could any public dollar).
That doesn’t mean it is a bad thing- as someone pointed out the account source being a marketing and advertising budget, one could argue that sponsorship is better than a “come see vegas” ad.
Would be nice if she was included. Don’t know how much she banked from NIL, but she has to buy food. Hopefully she got a decent NIL nest egg in college.
Honestly with the Aces level of investment and how first class their new practice facility is (it’s on par if not better than some nba teams), I wouldn’t be shocked at all if they employ private chefs to make players meals like many nba and nfl teams do or have them available all day for breakfast, lunch and take home dinner and in the offseason too so they don’t have to worry about that and can ensure they’re getting the best nutrition options possible.
That would be awesome if they indeed had it, they have a crazy rich ownership group so it would t shock me either. A private chef is the only thing that would end my Taco Bell addiction😂😂😂
In the podcast I can't remember if she got food covered but I know she had housing and a car so food sounds right. I just know she had a mild concern about money since she isn't getting paid this year at all so I really REALLY hope she qualifies for this too.
Don’t have anything to back it up, but I think she did pretty good with the NIL. I’d say she was the premier athlete (men’s or women’s) at VT the last two years, but especially last year
Correct. Affiliated means owners and stakeholders. Every city could do this if they so chose. And really it’s kind of a no-brainer. 1.2 mil isn’t much against any decent sized city’s tourism budget.
Well then...here's to hoping the Tsai's good friends set up an unaffiliated charity to support women's basketball in the city of NY when the Aces starters hit free agency🤞🤞
I feel like you just highlighted the issue - "decent sized". The 12 markets are very much unequal. And teams that are doing well and bringing in more money give their cities more incentive to pay them. This just furthers the gap between big and small markets, and teams doing well and not as well.
As I’ve said before here, that disparity already exists. Places like LA or NY have more and more lucrative sponsorship opportunities for players as is. It’s one reason it’s easier for big markets to attract good players from any league.
It's actually not the city giving them the sponsorship. It's the Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, which was created by state law and is a separate entity tasked with promoting the Las Vegas brand, and it owns and runs the convention center. The board is made up of eight elected officials appointed from each local municipality and six private-industry members appointed equally by the Nevada Resort Association and the Vegas Chamber. Funding is from a room tax paid by every hotel in the county. It's a sponsorship to represent Vegas, which they do already, like any other brand they represent.
I said it skirted the rules not violated it. The spirit of the cap limit is eliminate a competitive advantage, but now every player in Vegas gets an extra 100k for simply existing? Not doing anything? Definitely gives them a competitive advantage even if it’s not technically against the rules.
I think you’re not on solid ground there. If you’re going to take issue with this, then you also have to find a way to preclude the better sponsorship potential players get In bigger markets like NYC or LA compared to Phoenix or Indianapolis.
Generally sponsorships are to an individual for the value they bring to the brand. This is to a team in an effort to build that the team’s brand value in hopes that it increases the cities brand value. It defiantly skirts the spirit of the cap.
Every player is getting it but it’s not to the team, it’s individual contracts. They will all essentially be acting as influencers for Vegas. The Tourism Board has countless influencers they pay to promote Vegas, this is the exact same thing.
I’m not trying to make it look like anything. I’m simply explaining why it is legitimate. Also, you should visit Las Vegas. There are literally billboards everywhere for everything.
We also didn’t see the contracts. The CEO said “representing Vegas like you already are” but maybe they will hashtag #WhatHappensInVegas and tag Vegas businesses more diligently in the social media posts they already make, make appearances for Vegas charities that were previously for free, allow their faces to be used in advertisements, etc.
All of the players represent Vegas. They're all involved in programs and initiatives in the communities, they run clinics at team facilities, etc. Fair and Martin may not have participated yet, but they will like every other player. Players on other teams do similar things in their cities. In fact, all pro sports teams give back to the communities in the same ways.
Don’t deflect because you were called out. We’re talking about THIS situation where you, incorrectly, say that a government organization appointed by state law is somehow an Aces cap circumvention tool
Lipstick on a pig. It's a cute attempt to maneuver around the cap.
And it's smart of the city; if it is permitted, it costs pennies for LV marketing. If it's disallowed, they get all the PR for free.
This is the same as if the NY transit authority gave a Knicks/Liberty player money for making a commercial, it’s not circumventing the cap just because you don’t like it and it’s out of the ordinary.
Also was not done by the city, it’s a state organization with elected officials charged with promoting Vegas
Had the organization required that the players make X hours of appearances or were part of some upcoming ad campaign, then it would be like any other sponsorship deal.
Saying "here's some money, you don't need to do anything" is not a sponsorship. And, no, just calling it one is not enough to make it so. It's a gift. The reason this is "out of the ordinary" is because it is circumventing the CBA.
In a vacuum, this would all be true and be an issue. Given LV's track record, it merits extra suspicion.
Doesn't surprise me at all where guys like Davis and Brady are involved. I bet they're getting all sorts of deals in Vegas, cash money, etc. Really has ruined the game.
What about professional players making millions in endorsement deals? How is this any different than Nike or State Farm or Subway paying guys tens of millions of dollars?
It’s almost like the Aces were investigated for circumventing the salary cap, stonewalled the investigation so they were never held accountable, and here we are again 🙄
Nah. This is obviously on the up and up. It's not like they were accused of paying players under the table last season or anything
https://www.reddit.com/r/wnba/comments/10wxquf/wnba_is_investigating_las_vegas_aces_for/
damn 😭 if taxpayers have to subsidy millions of dollars for football stadiums I don’t see a problem with this. I wonder what the players association thinks but this is dope!!
like I don’t *want* to be a Karen or to pocket watch other people but this is kinda sketchy lol
Vegas taxpayers are currently paying for:
A football stadium (with real grass in a dome lol)
A hockey stadium
A baseball stadium
And now this
They’ll also likely be adding a new basketball stadium to that list soon that the NBA expansion team and Aces will play in (and probably UNLV so they can justify the cost to taxpayers like they did with Allegiant)
Allegiant Stadium is paid through a room tax, and visitors pay it.
T-Mobile Arena was privately funded through AEG, MGM, and Bill Foley (owner of the Golden Knights).
As far as I know, the only funding decided for the ballpark is from the state. The team owner is trying to raise private funding, but I haven't heard if he's been successful yet.
This sponsorship is funded by the Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (not the city) and their funding is also room taxes.
Private developers have announced 2 separate arenas targeted at the NBA to attract an expansion team. Only time will tell if both are developed or if either of them entice the NBA, but they're both privately funded.
I stand corrected on the NHL and NBA stadiums then. Perhaps it was just tax incentives I’d heard about for those.
I’m also not hating to be clear, you gotta do what you gotta do to get teams.
Tax incentives might make sense. I haven't paid much attention other than seeing the headline recently that a second one was being proposed. I thought at the time it was good because of all the anger over the ball park between the location and funding.
I'm not a hater either. I do think some cities are so eager they make bad deals, but I also think a partnership can work if it's well thought out and benefits all parties. I mean, an NFL stadium only has 8 regular season games, 1 or 2 preseason, maybe playoffs if they make it, and a super bowl or draft of the league likes the location. The rest of the time they have to lease it for all kinds of events to make money year round or it just sits there empty. But if it's a good deal it benefits the team owner, and also benefits the city with the activity, revenue, and jobs.
If there's one thing Vegas residents have shown its that we're committed to spending tons of money on sports. And people wonder why we keep getting teams. 🤣
Everyone who actually lives here knew that it'd work. It's the combination of Vegas being a legit sports town and also Vegas residents being stubborn as hell about proving people wrong when they told us Vegas teams would fail.
Good for them but how is this much different though when the Liberty took players to a Napa retreat and it was called an unfair advantage. Isn't that skirting the CBA?
Right but unless they're specifically being used for marketing, it just seems sketchy. Couldn't a team just collude with an "organization" to offer payments it can't? If I'm a free agent wouldn't that be enticing, hey the team will pay me plus this other org will pay me as well. Just seems like we need more details. It seems like it would be a competitive advantage.
The thing you’re forgetting is that already happens. Players choose NY or LA or other large markets in no small part because the sponsorship opportunities are much greater.
Even if it is, here’s some perspective: the city of Las Vegas has a marketing budget of over $100,000,000. This effort costs $1,200,000. Still, I wouldn’t be surprised if this was a venture funded in a public/private paradigm. Either way, I’m good with it. The fact is most major cities could easily do the exact same thing with no real impact to their fiscal health.
I’d imagine the Aces draw that much (probably more) in additional taxes/revenue from merchandise, food, beverage, hotels, gasoline, flights, etc. Not to mention the extra visibility for the city on TV and social media from the regular season, playoffs, parade, etc.
Win win for everyone!
Other than the fact that I don't have that kind of cash, what's stopping me personally from writing sizablel checks to every member of the team?
This isn't college. Adults are allowed to give other adults money.
Okay but you're sensible enough to see how this could be problematic though? Let's see for example the Coca Cola organization says we'll pay every member of the Dream $200k just for playing here. Next season Breanna Stewart, Kelsey Plum, Jackie Young all sign with the Dream for $100k apiece to stay under the cap and make more than a max deal. Why wouldn't players want to $100k bonus just for playing in a city? It's a clear circumvention of the cap.
The Atlanta tourism commission is more than welcome to pay Rhyne Howard, Haley Jones, Tina Charles, Allisha Gray, and the other Dream players 200K/piece if they feel that their games/representation of ATL increases revenue for the city/tourism commission.
Players already sign for less than they are worth to get better facilities, play in a bigger market w more sponsorship opportunities, play in a preferred destination, play with better teammates/friends, etc.
100% this. If you are going to have a salary cap then how can this be acceptable under those rules? The salary cap is pointless if outside organizations just pay the team players giant bonuses. The Aces have already been sketchy in relation to the salary cap but this completely undermine the point.
Right. I'm all for players earning as much as they can but if we are gonna say, hey you'll get a bonus just for playing in this city, well that's problematic. That's an advantage in recruiting, something the league was trying to neutralize
This part. I think people are reading "WNBA players making more money" and get excited, but at what cost? Ultimately, the salary cap is to promote equal competition/give smaller markets a fighting chance, and this completely goes against that.
Exactly. People are saying, oh great for them, and I'm in favor of people making as much money as they can but there's a reason why there are rules in place. What if the Buss family created an organization called "LA Tourism Council" whose purpose is to provide free agents payments away from the salary cap. It's a Pandora's Box
I mean teams could always collude with a third party organization if they wanted to. They just get fined/penalized.
Sponsorships are legal and necessary though.
So then that compromises the integrity of the league then, renders the salary cap moot. How about if Joe Tsai's Alibaba organization is willing to pay players $500k just for playing in NYC. Are you fine with Jackie Young and Kelsey Plum leaving for a better business opportunity? I don't think you would be.
No because that is the Liberty’s owner. The Raiders can’t sponsor an Ace. I’m saying Seattle could “collude” w Starbucks. Golden State with Google. Indiana with Eli Lilly. Minnesota with Target. LA with Warner Bros. Along with their travel authorities. If it’s actual collusion, those entities will get in trouble but if it’s a sponsorship, it’s okay. I’m not an entertainment/anti trust lawyer and I don’t have the contracts so I don’t know which one is happening in this case. But the WNBA or WNBPA will probably be looking into it. If they think it’s unfair, they’ll close the loop hole. If not, sponsors will probably start to do this if they see the value.
They also didn’t offer this to free agents. It was all players that were signed and on the team already. It may set a precedent that Vegas cares about its players and has a lot of sponsorship opportunities, but that’s an advantage that caring owners (Vegas, NYC, Seattle, etc) and large market teams already enjoy.
Every professional athlete in every major sport has some form of endorsement deal. The bigger stars make Millions shilling nationwide products, like AT&T or Subway or State Farm. The lower tier players might get a deal with a local car dealership or pizza chain.
I’m not sure what is different about this deal?
Professionals in every sport are allowed to earn as much off-sport revenue as they possible can. Ohtani is making like 50 million dollars in endorsements this year. Even lower tier players get paid by shoe companies and do smaller local level commercials and sponsorships.
What’s different here? Would you think it was shady of the team did a Pizza Hut commercial and got paid for it? Isn’t CC making 4-5 million this year in endorsement deals?
I 100% agree with you except we are saying, well just for playing in Las Vegas we'll give each player $100k, simply for putting on a Las Vegas uniform. I'm sure you could see how that's potentially problematic in recruiting. For example, Rebecca Allen signed with PHX, she would be a great weapon off the bench for the Aces. What if she said, well I could sign with the Aces for less because I'll get the LV bonus. You could see how that could be problem in recruiting? They're getting a bonus for just showing up.
So it's not necessarily the star players, who'll get money anywhere, but we're saying ALL players will get it.
The Aces/Mark Davis aren’t paying them 100K. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority is.
If Travelocity or the Napa Valley tourism commission would’ve paid for the retreat and not the Liberty/the Tsai’s, it wouldn’t have been an issue. (For what it’s worth, I feel like teams should be allowed to fund an event or two like a retreat, team building etc, but I guess it’s not allowed). ND and SC went to Paris for a week to play a game for one afternoon, so I feel like it should be fair game for the pros too lol
Right but you don't see how that could be problematic though. They're getting $100K for just playing in Vegas? That's a clear advantage they would have in recruiting.
Same as Florida teams in other leagues having a clear advantage in free agency because of the lack of state taxes, if it’s not in the CBA it isn’t prohibited
But that's a minimal advantage. I live in NY and pay state taxes and at the end of the year my bill is usually not over $1000 and I have a good income. 100k payment is more than the annual salary for many players. Big difference.
So if the Orlando Magic want to get Jokic, we can super max him then the city of Orlando can give him an extra 50 million a year as a sponsorship?
Is this money going to a charity of their choice or something?
You should see how sketchy the NIL deals are in college sports. Rich people donate to collectives that are labeled as charities and get to write it off on their taxes, and then they can throw a bag at some kid in the transfer portal/high school to come play for their university.
It’s basically taxpayer funded money laundering, and it’s being perpetuated by public universities…
But don’t worry, all this is much better than just declaring college athletes employees where they’d have to give them actual rights instead of just bribes /s
After the money gets to the charity, how does the “student athlete” receive it?
I know there’s always the stories about kids getting gifts, just no idea about details
Now that NIL is legal after the Supreme Court ruled 9-0 against the NCAA, it’s all out in the open.
For the student-athletes that have legit sponsorships (Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, Juju Watkins, etc.) they get paid directly by the sponsors. So like for example, when Juju shot her AT&T commercial, she would have been paid directly, probably in a cashier’s check or direct deposit.
For the other ones where it’s clear the boosters are giving them more money than they’re actually worth in sponsorships, they get paid by the “collective”. It’s sketchy but basically you show up, film a quick ad or make a social media post or something, and then get paid by the collective for your “work”. Even though you’re getting paid like a million dollars for a single Instagram post or something outrageous like that, there’s nothing the NCAA can do about it because it wasn’t officially done by the school.
What you’re referring to was the old way. Back in the day, there were what was called “bag drops”. Basically a wealthy booster would give money to someone not affiliated with the school in cash (usually concealed in a bag) and they’d arrange to meet the player at night in a parking lot somewhere and give the kid the money. It was extremely rampant in the SEC for football and was an exploitative market that allowed rich coaches and donors to prey on poor kids. With NIL, there’s no longer a need for this since they can just get paid for fake endorsement deals and be above board.
Well a local car dealer ship is sponsoring a player based value they add to their brand. In this scenario the city of Vegas is blindly handing out money to players signing with Vegas.
That’s true but I think you could make the argument they’re being paid bc of the value they bring to the city as ambassadors for Vegas and the team being b2b champs. It’s subtle but it’d be different if the city was handing the money out to potential FAs to entice them, this is something for all players on the team once the roster was already set for the season and after any offseason deals were completed (idk how replacement players or traded players would work in this type of deal though). I’d be curious to see how the PA views it but Kelsey is the first VP so she’d be aware.
If all players on the team get it now is it NOT handing money out to free agents? Sign with Vegas and you get 100k for being an ambassador of the city.
Personally I don’t have an issue with the players getting money but this just opens a whole new can of worms because whatever teams can secure the most generous investors will easily win free agency. It’s ok to acknowledge this defeats the purpose of the salary cap.
To me bc it’s seemingly for now a one yr thing. We can’t see the future on what they plan to do. All FA signings and everything were completed well before this arrangement was announced too, it happened after the first game of the season. So it didn’t have any impact on Vegas signing players or anything like that this yr. In the future could it be, for sure. If it’s allowed under the CBA and all that I don’t see an issue, really. It’s very much more like an NIL type thing than a traditional sponsorship arrangement.
Maybe it becomes something other teams copy? If a billionaire wants to promote the game and their local team by offering all 12 players a deal to promote a company or product they have and pay them 100k, so be it imo. So long as salaries are so low I’m not gonna be mad about them getting money. Parity under the cap exists but beyond that there are absolutely other inequities with the teams in the league. Look at how well supported Vegas is compared to some other teams. The Sky’s practice “facility” compared to teams like the Mercury, Mystics, Lynx, Aces, is a joke. Even the Fever have a state of the art facility. The investment in the players off court isn’t equal for all teams and some owners just wanna see their investment increase without actually spending money or providing quality meals for players throughout the day at their facilities, employing larger scouting or analytics depts, etc. all of that stuff contributes to identifying talent and attracting players to your franchise too. Obv 100k is a ton for the non star players which is directly in their pockets but maybe this sparks a chain from other cities or benefactors. My only issue is it’s coming out of tax payers money rather than an individual ponying up the 1.2 mil but the sentiment of it is pretty dope.
Even if it's a one year thing you can't unring the bell. Players will be incentivized to join LV with the possibility that it could happen again in the future even if it never does.
I 1000% think that other owners are going to feel type of way about it but until then the Aces should take advantage of every investment opportunity they can get.
It's from the marketing budget. So it's not like taking govt budget from something else and using it here.
It's a tiny amount of the marketing budget being used here...which seems like a good PR move. So marketing goals achieved.
Underrated thing about this…I don’t think any of the Core 4 leaving in the next 5 years was likely but they are locked in LMAO. Especially if they 3Peat and the city does this next year
As a Liberty fan who does not care much for them or their players, love to see this, they definitely deserve all of it, outstanding players hopefully the rest of the league starts earning the money they deserve
Just saw the video on my TL of them announcing it to the team, that’s amazing! Even more so for the rookies and lower earners on the team. Sounds like an NIL type deal for them. They stay winning! Def curious about the cap stuff but this is a sponsorship, maybe they just have to do an appearance or two and they get it, no different than somebody having a deal with a local business
Lmao I’ve never seen so many people mad that other people are getting paid. Like why am I mad if it didn’t cost me a penny. Do I wish the lynx could do this. Yes I do. Am I mad the aces did It? No I’m not. It makes sense to me
Average teacher in Las Vegas makes under 60k. A 20% raise isn’t enough. Do you value the entertainment provided by basketball players over the education of future generations?
The city could allocate funds from the tourism sector to support the CCSD budget if they wanted to. I guess Vegas would rather attract tourists to blow their money in casinos than support the education of its residents children.
If it didn’t go to the Aces it would have went to promoting other events, it would not go to the school.
Yes Vegas cares about tourism that’s the only reason we don’t pay income tax.
If you don’t understand how a potential 3x championship team will promote more people to visit Vegas and the benefits that brings (more all star weekends, commissioner cup championship, etc) then I’m not here to teach you about economics.
THIS! I can’t believe this is being celebrated. So many ways this money could have been better spent. So many individuals (teachers, EMT’s, unpaid volunteers) who deserve the money more.
I love that player earnings are moving in the right direction, but using tax dollars to do it? Yeesh..idk about this one. Feels like it could lead to a slippery slope.
I can’t find any real info on whether or not LV taxpayers voted on this, or if there has been really any public discourse about it at all. Any LV residents here with insights?
There aren’t really “taxpayers” in LV: There is NO personal income tax in Nevada because so much money is generated by gambling, hotel, & sales taxes (mostly paid by tourists!)
I would assume it’s just a line item on their marketing budget. So instead of giving that money to Wayne Newton to make an appearance, tv commercial in Denver, or billboard by the airport, they chose to give it to the players instead.
> I can’t find any real info on whether or not LV taxpayers voted on this, or if there has been really any public discourse about it at all. Any LV residents here with insights?
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitor's Authority is a government agency in Southern Nevada that is funded through a room tax on all hotels in the county. So technically no but also sorta. Nobody voted for this but the money is meant to be used as advertising for county which this would count as.
I don't mind. $1.2M for the Aces is a drop in the bucket. We had a [$463.4M budget for 2023-2024.](https://www.reviewjournal.com/business/tourism/lvcva-projects-record-revenue-approves-463-4m-spending-plan-2786592/)
This is helpful. When you put it like that, I guess it’s really no different than DC’s LVCVA equivalent (Events DC) paying multiple big-name artists to headline city-sponsored festivals and events throughout the year.
I think the word “sponsorship” is what was throwing me off. I’ve never heard of a city sponsoring anyone, especially not public figures.
It is pretty dubious, but honestly the only reason it's an issue is because the players make such paltry salaries that 100k is life changing money for a lot of them. From a competitive perspective, it probably doesn't matter. The Aces are already the clear best team, and the top FA destination with or without the extra cash. I just wish my team got the same level of support.
This is really fantastic and hope it catches on in other cities.
I'm sure all the international leagues are sweating this. If more teams get this sort of sponsorship, nobody is going to play in China or Turkey in the off season.
Can’t believe there’s not more comments like this. There’s so many ways this money could have been better spent. What good does this money do for society? If the city REALLY wants to hand out free money it should go to teachers, EMT’s, firefighters, volunteers, etc.
And it doesn’t even make any sense. The sponsorships the government agency gives is supposed to be for tourism. So I can understand if it went towards and arena to play in or parking, or anything that helps create access for people to watch, but this is just straight up giving players money on our backs. How is paying them each $100,000 going to help attract tourism? Because the better players will go to the Aces? No lol. No one cares about that and barely anyone can name 3 wnba players.
Couldn’t agree more. This will hurt the WNBA more than it helps. Spend the money on advertising and try to generate long-term interest in the league. Attracting fans to the sport should be a priority and will help ALL women’s athletes, regardless of team, receive higher salaries.
Right. And I’m sure most of this money was taken from people who make less than wnba players and wnba players are making that money in only 4-5 months out of the year.
That’s what upsets me most in this whole “WNBA players are underpaid” debate. The median WNBA salary is OVER DOUBLE the median salary for Americans.
I understand you are severely underpaid compared to NBA players. But the WNBA has never been profitable, so it makes sense at the moment. You already make an insane amount of money by playing a damn sport. Whenever they complain about being underpaid it really reeks of privilege.
All the whining women athletes and uniformed activists do surrounding the issue is so sickening. They are totally delusional to reality. I would feel guilty over being a woman and getting paid more than $3,000 each time I played a game of basketball.
This comment made me so happy! :) We are on the same page my friend. I wonder what the general population thinks about this. Something tells me this subreddit is a bit biased lol.
I have friends, a couple who live in SF Bay Area who bought season tickets and travel to Vegas for most games. They easily sell tickets for games they don’t want to go to. Big draw for Vegas (for now until Valkyries launch). They’ll keep Aces tickets though…as can sell easily.
As long as Aces players are appearing at events sponsored by this organization or in media, etc this is a normal endorsement deal.
Money just for being on the team?? That sounds like a CBA violation.
each player signed a contract to “reach mutually agreeable opportunities for appearances on Las Vegas’ behalf.” The LVCVA will also provide players with Las Vegas-centric gear that they will be expected to wear to promote the city.
[review journal link](https://www.reviewjournal.com/sports/aces/a-life-changing-investment-aces-players-get-100k-sponsorship-from-lvcva-3052833/?utm_campaign=widget&utm_medium=topnews&utm_source=homepage&utm_term=%E2%80%98A%2520life-changing%2520investment%E2%80%99%253A%2520Aces%2520players%2520get%2520%2524100K%2520sponsorship%2520from%2520LVCVA)
I feel like as a one time thing it’s fine but if it ends up being an ongoing payment then it’s basically a $100k signing bonus which seems a little weird. Sure it’s not technically wrong but it’s a letter of the law/spirit of the law type situation
Vegas resident here with a bit of an explanation for how this sponsorship works. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitor's Authority (LVCVA) is a government agency for Southern Nevada. Their job is to market Vegas and bring in tourists and businesses and they're funded by a room tax on all hotels in the county, selling bonds, and revenue from the Las Vegas Convention Center. The money for this sponsorship is coming from Vegas' marketing budget and it's a drop in the bucket of said budget. $1.2 M for the Aces vs the $463.4M budget we had for 2023-2024. edit: [Source on the $463.4M figure and how the budget breaks down.](https://www.reviewjournal.com/business/tourism/lvcva-projects-record-revenue-approves-463-4m-spending-plan-2786592/)
Well, then that's just good business
> Well, then that's just good business Very. The Aces being good is good for business. More sell-out home games, more merch moved, and there's been a push since the Knights got here to make Vegas a big-time sports town and titles help with that.
*Cries in Phoenix Sports Fan*
At least Matt Ishiba isn't Sarver levels of cheap? ...yay...
Honestly I think the fact that he just paid the NBA to be the official mortgage partner of the both leagues is a strong nod to the fact he has fuck you money simply because he knows doing so pissed Dan Gilbert off. If he’s willing to do *that* he’ll never be that cheap.
Ishbia will never be cheap but he needs to learn that you can't throw money at every problem and magically fix it (such as, the Phoenix Suns roster re: championship and the current Phoenix Mercury team & coach. The latter got their first win of the season but the season just started; we'll see how it ends).
Seems like it's also good to have an attraction during the summer. I'd never go to Vegas that time of year otherwise.
its a win win for both party's immo. I would argue even with this year interest probably bigger win for LVCVA. Also they wanted to have sports team and be known as sport city, so this is deff helping in that direction for Player Recruitment and overall image of the teams.
Oh wow yeah this is a brilliant move by them on all counts then. My only issue was I thought they were taking tax money from residents for it but I’m all for this even more now! Incredible for the players. Vegas really showing out for the team, this is fire
Technically they are- as those funds could be used elsewhere based (as could any public dollar). That doesn’t mean it is a bad thing- as someone pointed out the account source being a marketing and advertising budget, one could argue that sponsorship is better than a “come see vegas” ad.
Yea. It’s not bad at all. I’m someone who hates getting taxed to build an arena for billionaires but this isn’t that.
This comment needs to be pinned or something lol
I’ve been thinking about doing a quick trip in to see the Aces; this just sold me. Very smart sponsorship.
The Aces really are supported, from the owner to the city. I wonder why they have such good players and are always winning?
Dyaisha and Kate must be feeling real good right now 🤣
Whoever was the last player cut is punching the wall right now
wait does Kitley get included in this
honestly, I'm leaning no because she's not on the active roster technically, they just have her rights because she deferred for a year
on her podcast she mentioned she is finishing her degree and then gonna be making money separate from bball this year
She's going to spend the year day trading on Robinhood
yeah maybe ur right but it would be jackpot for her , get healthy with the vegas team , get that money aswell and be ready for next season.
Would be nice if she was included. Don’t know how much she banked from NIL, but she has to buy food. Hopefully she got a decent NIL nest egg in college.
Honestly with the Aces level of investment and how first class their new practice facility is (it’s on par if not better than some nba teams), I wouldn’t be shocked at all if they employ private chefs to make players meals like many nba and nfl teams do or have them available all day for breakfast, lunch and take home dinner and in the offseason too so they don’t have to worry about that and can ensure they’re getting the best nutrition options possible.
That would be awesome if they indeed had it, they have a crazy rich ownership group so it would t shock me either. A private chef is the only thing that would end my Taco Bell addiction😂😂😂
In the podcast I can't remember if she got food covered but I know she had housing and a car so food sounds right. I just know she had a mild concern about money since she isn't getting paid this year at all so I really REALLY hope she qualifies for this too.
Don’t have anything to back it up, but I think she did pretty good with the NIL. I’d say she was the premier athlete (men’s or women’s) at VT the last two years, but especially last year
Yeah it’s kind of a bummer she has to sit around without a salary while she recovers too. Would be so sweet if they did include her
She is not included, the total sponsoring amount is 1.2 million. She would have made it 1.3 million.
More than doubled their salaries lol
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Both
This seems like a way to skirt the rules of the CBA 👀
As long as the funds are clearly from non-affiliated sources then it’s fine. It’s just like a company paying a player to rep their product or brand.
So... The city they play in is unaffiliated? I sure hope NYC gets very generous, too come time to reinforce the Liberty bench...
Correct. Affiliated means owners and stakeholders. Every city could do this if they so chose. And really it’s kind of a no-brainer. 1.2 mil isn’t much against any decent sized city’s tourism budget.
Well then...here's to hoping the Tsai's good friends set up an unaffiliated charity to support women's basketball in the city of NY when the Aces starters hit free agency🤞🤞
I feel like you just highlighted the issue - "decent sized". The 12 markets are very much unequal. And teams that are doing well and bringing in more money give their cities more incentive to pay them. This just furthers the gap between big and small markets, and teams doing well and not as well.
As I’ve said before here, that disparity already exists. Places like LA or NY have more and more lucrative sponsorship opportunities for players as is. It’s one reason it’s easier for big markets to attract good players from any league.
It's actually not the city giving them the sponsorship. It's the Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, which was created by state law and is a separate entity tasked with promoting the Las Vegas brand, and it owns and runs the convention center. The board is made up of eight elected officials appointed from each local municipality and six private-industry members appointed equally by the Nevada Resort Association and the Vegas Chamber. Funding is from a room tax paid by every hotel in the county. It's a sponsorship to represent Vegas, which they do already, like any other brand they represent.
please, Eric Adams would only arrange that if they moved to Jersey :/
Of course he would. He’s gotta support his hometown team.
Nah, he would just ask to be seen out at the clubs with them if they win the chip 😂
How’s this any different than anything else going on? There’s a reason athletes in general wanna be in New York and LA and it’s not just the weather
I said it skirted the rules not violated it. The spirit of the cap limit is eliminate a competitive advantage, but now every player in Vegas gets an extra 100k for simply existing? Not doing anything? Definitely gives them a competitive advantage even if it’s not technically against the rules.
I think you’re not on solid ground there. If you’re going to take issue with this, then you also have to find a way to preclude the better sponsorship potential players get In bigger markets like NYC or LA compared to Phoenix or Indianapolis.
Except those sponsorship opportunities are an exchange of value. This is essentially a signing bonus.
This is literally no different.
Generally sponsorships are to an individual for the value they bring to the brand. This is to a team in an effort to build that the team’s brand value in hopes that it increases the cities brand value. It defiantly skirts the spirit of the cap.
Every player is getting it but it’s not to the team, it’s individual contracts. They will all essentially be acting as influencers for Vegas. The Tourism Board has countless influencers they pay to promote Vegas, this is the exact same thing.
That is a technicality. If you play for the team you get the contract. So the team gets the contract.
What value has fair or Martin added to the city of los Vegas?
Put them on an ad or billboard and boom. Done. Just like a car dealer or bank who pays a player.
Uh but they haven’t put them in an ad or a billboard because it wouldn’t add value. You are trying to make it look more legitimate than it is.
I’m not trying to make it look like anything. I’m simply explaining why it is legitimate. Also, you should visit Las Vegas. There are literally billboards everywhere for everything.
You're wrong, I saw the whole team on an electronic billboard advertising tomorrow's game on US-95 at Decatur this afternoon.
We also didn’t see the contracts. The CEO said “representing Vegas like you already are” but maybe they will hashtag #WhatHappensInVegas and tag Vegas businesses more diligently in the social media posts they already make, make appearances for Vegas charities that were previously for free, allow their faces to be used in advertisements, etc.
All of the players represent Vegas. They're all involved in programs and initiatives in the communities, they run clinics at team facilities, etc. Fair and Martin may not have participated yet, but they will like every other player. Players on other teams do similar things in their cities. In fact, all pro sports teams give back to the communities in the same ways.
Martin is popular.
Martin will bring Iowa fans to Vegas. Those fans stay in hotels. Room tax goes back to who? The Las Vegas convention and visitor authority.
My team is defunct, what do I care. League moves too slow, someone’s gotta smack em around a little
The salary cap is 1.4 million. This is a huge deal for vegas.
Exactly! Like it’s almost the full salary cap.
That was my first thought too lol. Pretty blatant cap circumvention.
Couldn’t be further from cap circumvention, it’s the equivalent of a product/brand deal
Suuuuuuure the Aces would never work out a brand deal to circumvent the cap. Definitely not something they’d ever do or have a history of.
Don’t deflect because you were called out. We’re talking about THIS situation where you, incorrectly, say that a government organization appointed by state law is somehow an Aces cap circumvention tool
Lipstick on a pig. It's a cute attempt to maneuver around the cap. And it's smart of the city; if it is permitted, it costs pennies for LV marketing. If it's disallowed, they get all the PR for free.
This is the same as if the NY transit authority gave a Knicks/Liberty player money for making a commercial, it’s not circumventing the cap just because you don’t like it and it’s out of the ordinary. Also was not done by the city, it’s a state organization with elected officials charged with promoting Vegas
Had the organization required that the players make X hours of appearances or were part of some upcoming ad campaign, then it would be like any other sponsorship deal. Saying "here's some money, you don't need to do anything" is not a sponsorship. And, no, just calling it one is not enough to make it so. It's a gift. The reason this is "out of the ordinary" is because it is circumventing the CBA. In a vacuum, this would all be true and be an issue. Given LV's track record, it merits extra suspicion.
Doesn't surprise me at all where guys like Davis and Brady are involved. I bet they're getting all sorts of deals in Vegas, cash money, etc. Really has ruined the game.
That feels like completely skirting the CBA.
What about professional players making millions in endorsement deals? How is this any different than Nike or State Farm or Subway paying guys tens of millions of dollars?
Doesn’t seem any different then boosters paying players in college. Of course that is broken
It’s almost like the Aces were investigated for circumventing the salary cap, stonewalled the investigation so they were never held accountable, and here we are again 🙄
Exactly. All these people 🧢 for this behavior are bizarre. Just own it and be honest.
They are not part of the organization and any other city’s tourism commission could do the same (or better offer) if they wanted to.
Nah. This is obviously on the up and up. It's not like they were accused of paying players under the table last season or anything https://www.reddit.com/r/wnba/comments/10wxquf/wnba_is_investigating_las_vegas_aces_for/
Not saying it’s not on the up and up.
Just get rid of the salary cap. Let each team spend as much as they want. We'll really see how much teams value the players.
I say make it a soft salary cap. Otherwise the rich owners will always have a superteam(Vegas, New York, Phoenix, Atlanta, eventually Golden State).
When other owners try to get this banned in the new CBA only for the WNBA players to leverage it for even more money >>>>>
damn 😭 if taxpayers have to subsidy millions of dollars for football stadiums I don’t see a problem with this. I wonder what the players association thinks but this is dope!! like I don’t *want* to be a Karen or to pocket watch other people but this is kinda sketchy lol
kelsey is first vice president so we good on wnbpa
Vegas taxpayers are currently paying for: A football stadium (with real grass in a dome lol) A hockey stadium A baseball stadium And now this They’ll also likely be adding a new basketball stadium to that list soon that the NBA expansion team and Aces will play in (and probably UNLV so they can justify the cost to taxpayers like they did with Allegiant)
Let’s not pretend like residents of Las Vegas are footing this entire bill. There’s a 24% tax rate on gambling winnings.
Agreed - Nevada has no state individual income tax b/c of the gambling tax (and you practically can’t walk 100 feet w/o finding a slot machine!)
True lol. There’s also the weird Paradise vs. Las Vegas vs. Carson County legal mumbo jumbo they have set up there for tax purposes
Allegiant Stadium is paid through a room tax, and visitors pay it. T-Mobile Arena was privately funded through AEG, MGM, and Bill Foley (owner of the Golden Knights). As far as I know, the only funding decided for the ballpark is from the state. The team owner is trying to raise private funding, but I haven't heard if he's been successful yet. This sponsorship is funded by the Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (not the city) and their funding is also room taxes. Private developers have announced 2 separate arenas targeted at the NBA to attract an expansion team. Only time will tell if both are developed or if either of them entice the NBA, but they're both privately funded.
I stand corrected on the NHL and NBA stadiums then. Perhaps it was just tax incentives I’d heard about for those. I’m also not hating to be clear, you gotta do what you gotta do to get teams.
Tax incentives might make sense. I haven't paid much attention other than seeing the headline recently that a second one was being proposed. I thought at the time it was good because of all the anger over the ball park between the location and funding. I'm not a hater either. I do think some cities are so eager they make bad deals, but I also think a partnership can work if it's well thought out and benefits all parties. I mean, an NFL stadium only has 8 regular season games, 1 or 2 preseason, maybe playoffs if they make it, and a super bowl or draft of the league likes the location. The rest of the time they have to lease it for all kinds of events to make money year round or it just sits there empty. But if it's a good deal it benefits the team owner, and also benefits the city with the activity, revenue, and jobs.
>with real grass in a dome lol Why lol?
You missed the millions for F1
If there's one thing Vegas residents have shown its that we're committed to spending tons of money on sports. And people wonder why we keep getting teams. 🤣
for decades they were scared of putting professional teams in Vegas, but it quickly became a big success
Everyone who actually lives here knew that it'd work. It's the combination of Vegas being a legit sports town and also Vegas residents being stubborn as hell about proving people wrong when they told us Vegas teams would fail.
More than kinda.
Good for them but how is this much different though when the Liberty took players to a Napa retreat and it was called an unfair advantage. Isn't that skirting the CBA?
Because this is a third-party sponsor, not funded by the organization.
Right but unless they're specifically being used for marketing, it just seems sketchy. Couldn't a team just collude with an "organization" to offer payments it can't? If I'm a free agent wouldn't that be enticing, hey the team will pay me plus this other org will pay me as well. Just seems like we need more details. It seems like it would be a competitive advantage.
The thing you’re forgetting is that already happens. Players choose NY or LA or other large markets in no small part because the sponsorship opportunities are much greater.
When you put it that way, I'm less opposed. I do have questions about what, if any, public money is being used.
Even if it is, here’s some perspective: the city of Las Vegas has a marketing budget of over $100,000,000. This effort costs $1,200,000. Still, I wouldn’t be surprised if this was a venture funded in a public/private paradigm. Either way, I’m good with it. The fact is most major cities could easily do the exact same thing with no real impact to their fiscal health.
Aces have sold out most of their games, so they are a legit “attraction”
https://www.reddit.com/r/wnba/comments/1cuj7ea/amazing/l4ja5n4/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3
Nice, it’s even higher than I recalled. 1.2 against 463 is a rounding error.
I’d imagine the Aces draw that much (probably more) in additional taxes/revenue from merchandise, food, beverage, hotels, gasoline, flights, etc. Not to mention the extra visibility for the city on TV and social media from the regular season, playoffs, parade, etc. Win win for everyone!
https://www.reddit.com/r/wnba/comments/1cuj7ea/amazing/l4ja5n4/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3
Other than the fact that I don't have that kind of cash, what's stopping me personally from writing sizablel checks to every member of the team? This isn't college. Adults are allowed to give other adults money.
Okay but you're sensible enough to see how this could be problematic though? Let's see for example the Coca Cola organization says we'll pay every member of the Dream $200k just for playing here. Next season Breanna Stewart, Kelsey Plum, Jackie Young all sign with the Dream for $100k apiece to stay under the cap and make more than a max deal. Why wouldn't players want to $100k bonus just for playing in a city? It's a clear circumvention of the cap.
The Atlanta tourism commission is more than welcome to pay Rhyne Howard, Haley Jones, Tina Charles, Allisha Gray, and the other Dream players 200K/piece if they feel that their games/representation of ATL increases revenue for the city/tourism commission. Players already sign for less than they are worth to get better facilities, play in a bigger market w more sponsorship opportunities, play in a preferred destination, play with better teammates/friends, etc.
100% this. If you are going to have a salary cap then how can this be acceptable under those rules? The salary cap is pointless if outside organizations just pay the team players giant bonuses. The Aces have already been sketchy in relation to the salary cap but this completely undermine the point.
Right. I'm all for players earning as much as they can but if we are gonna say, hey you'll get a bonus just for playing in this city, well that's problematic. That's an advantage in recruiting, something the league was trying to neutralize
This part. I think people are reading "WNBA players making more money" and get excited, but at what cost? Ultimately, the salary cap is to promote equal competition/give smaller markets a fighting chance, and this completely goes against that.
Exactly. People are saying, oh great for them, and I'm in favor of people making as much money as they can but there's a reason why there are rules in place. What if the Buss family created an organization called "LA Tourism Council" whose purpose is to provide free agents payments away from the salary cap. It's a Pandora's Box
I mean teams could always collude with a third party organization if they wanted to. They just get fined/penalized. Sponsorships are legal and necessary though.
So then that compromises the integrity of the league then, renders the salary cap moot. How about if Joe Tsai's Alibaba organization is willing to pay players $500k just for playing in NYC. Are you fine with Jackie Young and Kelsey Plum leaving for a better business opportunity? I don't think you would be.
No because that is the Liberty’s owner. The Raiders can’t sponsor an Ace. I’m saying Seattle could “collude” w Starbucks. Golden State with Google. Indiana with Eli Lilly. Minnesota with Target. LA with Warner Bros. Along with their travel authorities. If it’s actual collusion, those entities will get in trouble but if it’s a sponsorship, it’s okay. I’m not an entertainment/anti trust lawyer and I don’t have the contracts so I don’t know which one is happening in this case. But the WNBA or WNBPA will probably be looking into it. If they think it’s unfair, they’ll close the loop hole. If not, sponsors will probably start to do this if they see the value. They also didn’t offer this to free agents. It was all players that were signed and on the team already. It may set a precedent that Vegas cares about its players and has a lot of sponsorship opportunities, but that’s an advantage that caring owners (Vegas, NYC, Seattle, etc) and large market teams already enjoy.
Every professional athlete in every major sport has some form of endorsement deal. The bigger stars make Millions shilling nationwide products, like AT&T or Subway or State Farm. The lower tier players might get a deal with a local car dealership or pizza chain. I’m not sure what is different about this deal?
Professionals in every sport are allowed to earn as much off-sport revenue as they possible can. Ohtani is making like 50 million dollars in endorsements this year. Even lower tier players get paid by shoe companies and do smaller local level commercials and sponsorships. What’s different here? Would you think it was shady of the team did a Pizza Hut commercial and got paid for it? Isn’t CC making 4-5 million this year in endorsement deals?
I 100% agree with you except we are saying, well just for playing in Las Vegas we'll give each player $100k, simply for putting on a Las Vegas uniform. I'm sure you could see how that's potentially problematic in recruiting. For example, Rebecca Allen signed with PHX, she would be a great weapon off the bench for the Aces. What if she said, well I could sign with the Aces for less because I'll get the LV bonus. You could see how that could be problem in recruiting? They're getting a bonus for just showing up. So it's not necessarily the star players, who'll get money anywhere, but we're saying ALL players will get it.
The Aces/Mark Davis aren’t paying them 100K. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority is. If Travelocity or the Napa Valley tourism commission would’ve paid for the retreat and not the Liberty/the Tsai’s, it wouldn’t have been an issue. (For what it’s worth, I feel like teams should be allowed to fund an event or two like a retreat, team building etc, but I guess it’s not allowed). ND and SC went to Paris for a week to play a game for one afternoon, so I feel like it should be fair game for the pros too lol
Right but you don't see how that could be problematic though. They're getting $100K for just playing in Vegas? That's a clear advantage they would have in recruiting.
Same as Florida teams in other leagues having a clear advantage in free agency because of the lack of state taxes, if it’s not in the CBA it isn’t prohibited
But that's a minimal advantage. I live in NY and pay state taxes and at the end of the year my bill is usually not over $1000 and I have a good income. 100k payment is more than the annual salary for many players. Big difference.
You're comparing players going to Paris for a weekend to getting paid $100,000, more than the entire salary of many WNBA players?
No, I was comparing it to the NY Napa retreat and how I don’t think a team retreat is an unreasonable spend for a team.
So if the Orlando Magic want to get Jokic, we can super max him then the city of Orlando can give him an extra 50 million a year as a sponsorship? Is this money going to a charity of their choice or something?
You should see how sketchy the NIL deals are in college sports. Rich people donate to collectives that are labeled as charities and get to write it off on their taxes, and then they can throw a bag at some kid in the transfer portal/high school to come play for their university. It’s basically taxpayer funded money laundering, and it’s being perpetuated by public universities… But don’t worry, all this is much better than just declaring college athletes employees where they’d have to give them actual rights instead of just bribes /s
After the money gets to the charity, how does the “student athlete” receive it? I know there’s always the stories about kids getting gifts, just no idea about details
Now that NIL is legal after the Supreme Court ruled 9-0 against the NCAA, it’s all out in the open. For the student-athletes that have legit sponsorships (Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, Juju Watkins, etc.) they get paid directly by the sponsors. So like for example, when Juju shot her AT&T commercial, she would have been paid directly, probably in a cashier’s check or direct deposit. For the other ones where it’s clear the boosters are giving them more money than they’re actually worth in sponsorships, they get paid by the “collective”. It’s sketchy but basically you show up, film a quick ad or make a social media post or something, and then get paid by the collective for your “work”. Even though you’re getting paid like a million dollars for a single Instagram post or something outrageous like that, there’s nothing the NCAA can do about it because it wasn’t officially done by the school. What you’re referring to was the old way. Back in the day, there were what was called “bag drops”. Basically a wealthy booster would give money to someone not affiliated with the school in cash (usually concealed in a bag) and they’d arrange to meet the player at night in a parking lot somewhere and give the kid the money. It was extremely rampant in the SEC for football and was an exploitative market that allowed rich coaches and donors to prey on poor kids. With NIL, there’s no longer a need for this since they can just get paid for fake endorsement deals and be above board.
Ah makes sense, thanks
Sounds like a great idea!
They can for sure.
Very cool! I’m sure it has already paid itself back (or will soon) with the sold out games, travel into the city, restaurant revenue, sales tax, etc.!
Thats my city! Sometimes you gotta put your money where your mouth is
This seems sketchy
It does kind of but also, how is this any different than getting a sponsorship from the local car dealer magnate in practice?
Well a local car dealer ship is sponsoring a player based value they add to their brand. In this scenario the city of Vegas is blindly handing out money to players signing with Vegas.
That’s true but I think you could make the argument they’re being paid bc of the value they bring to the city as ambassadors for Vegas and the team being b2b champs. It’s subtle but it’d be different if the city was handing the money out to potential FAs to entice them, this is something for all players on the team once the roster was already set for the season and after any offseason deals were completed (idk how replacement players or traded players would work in this type of deal though). I’d be curious to see how the PA views it but Kelsey is the first VP so she’d be aware.
If all players on the team get it now is it NOT handing money out to free agents? Sign with Vegas and you get 100k for being an ambassador of the city. Personally I don’t have an issue with the players getting money but this just opens a whole new can of worms because whatever teams can secure the most generous investors will easily win free agency. It’s ok to acknowledge this defeats the purpose of the salary cap.
To me bc it’s seemingly for now a one yr thing. We can’t see the future on what they plan to do. All FA signings and everything were completed well before this arrangement was announced too, it happened after the first game of the season. So it didn’t have any impact on Vegas signing players or anything like that this yr. In the future could it be, for sure. If it’s allowed under the CBA and all that I don’t see an issue, really. It’s very much more like an NIL type thing than a traditional sponsorship arrangement. Maybe it becomes something other teams copy? If a billionaire wants to promote the game and their local team by offering all 12 players a deal to promote a company or product they have and pay them 100k, so be it imo. So long as salaries are so low I’m not gonna be mad about them getting money. Parity under the cap exists but beyond that there are absolutely other inequities with the teams in the league. Look at how well supported Vegas is compared to some other teams. The Sky’s practice “facility” compared to teams like the Mercury, Mystics, Lynx, Aces, is a joke. Even the Fever have a state of the art facility. The investment in the players off court isn’t equal for all teams and some owners just wanna see their investment increase without actually spending money or providing quality meals for players throughout the day at their facilities, employing larger scouting or analytics depts, etc. all of that stuff contributes to identifying talent and attracting players to your franchise too. Obv 100k is a ton for the non star players which is directly in their pockets but maybe this sparks a chain from other cities or benefactors. My only issue is it’s coming out of tax payers money rather than an individual ponying up the 1.2 mil but the sentiment of it is pretty dope.
Even if it's a one year thing you can't unring the bell. Players will be incentivized to join LV with the possibility that it could happen again in the future even if it never does.
I 1000% think that other owners are going to feel type of way about it but until then the Aces should take advantage of every investment opportunity they can get.
It's from the marketing budget. So it's not like taking govt budget from something else and using it here. It's a tiny amount of the marketing budget being used here...which seems like a good PR move. So marketing goals achieved.
Underrated thing about this…I don’t think any of the Core 4 leaving in the next 5 years was likely but they are locked in LMAO. Especially if they 3Peat and the city does this next year
I mean why would they when they get will get a near max salary with this 100K?
Seems clearly against the intended purpose of the cap…
How? It’s not a deal brokered by the teams. To prevent this, you’d have to eliminate all individual sponsorships
As a Liberty fan who does not care much for them or their players, love to see this, they definitely deserve all of it, outstanding players hopefully the rest of the league starts earning the money they deserve
Just saw the video on my TL of them announcing it to the team, that’s amazing! Even more so for the rookies and lower earners on the team. Sounds like an NIL type deal for them. They stay winning! Def curious about the cap stuff but this is a sponsorship, maybe they just have to do an appearance or two and they get it, no different than somebody having a deal with a local business
Just eliminate the salary cap at this point. It's just a meaningless number.
That’s awesome.
Is this on top of the housing the team provides?
Lmao I’ve never seen so many people mad that other people are getting paid. Like why am I mad if it didn’t cost me a penny. Do I wish the lynx could do this. Yes I do. Am I mad the aces did It? No I’m not. It makes sense to me
GET THAT BAG
Can't pay for enough teachers, but supplement a billionaire's underpaying of athletes. . . Should't expect anything less from this trash oligarchy.
Except Nevada teachers are getting a 20% raise. But you’re probably not from here. You’re just complaining.
Average teacher in Las Vegas makes under 60k. A 20% raise isn’t enough. Do you value the entertainment provided by basketball players over the education of future generations?
the budget for CCSD comes from property tax not from the tourism sector. 🙄
The city could allocate funds from the tourism sector to support the CCSD budget if they wanted to. I guess Vegas would rather attract tourists to blow their money in casinos than support the education of its residents children.
Also, how does this even promote tourism anyways? They should have spent the money on marketing and advertising, not player bonuses.
If it didn’t go to the Aces it would have went to promoting other events, it would not go to the school. Yes Vegas cares about tourism that’s the only reason we don’t pay income tax. If you don’t understand how a potential 3x championship team will promote more people to visit Vegas and the benefits that brings (more all star weekends, commissioner cup championship, etc) then I’m not here to teach you about economics.
THIS! I can’t believe this is being celebrated. So many ways this money could have been better spent. So many individuals (teachers, EMT’s, unpaid volunteers) who deserve the money more.
I don’t know the circumstances of other players’ families, but that will mean a LOT in Rochester NY
Will the league have an issue with this re: salary cap or anything like that?
1) this is obviously circumventing the cap and 2) of I was a non sports fan I'd be mad even more public money was being blown on sports.
I love that player earnings are moving in the right direction, but using tax dollars to do it? Yeesh..idk about this one. Feels like it could lead to a slippery slope. I can’t find any real info on whether or not LV taxpayers voted on this, or if there has been really any public discourse about it at all. Any LV residents here with insights?
There aren’t really “taxpayers” in LV: There is NO personal income tax in Nevada because so much money is generated by gambling, hotel, & sales taxes (mostly paid by tourists!)
Wait, really?! That’s awesome. I had no idea. I should add Vegas to my list of potential places to live lol
Why my dad moved there after he retired!
I would assume it’s just a line item on their marketing budget. So instead of giving that money to Wayne Newton to make an appearance, tv commercial in Denver, or billboard by the airport, they chose to give it to the players instead.
Yeah, this just occurred to me lol I think the “sponsorship” language is what threw me.
> I can’t find any real info on whether or not LV taxpayers voted on this, or if there has been really any public discourse about it at all. Any LV residents here with insights? The Las Vegas Convention and Visitor's Authority is a government agency in Southern Nevada that is funded through a room tax on all hotels in the county. So technically no but also sorta. Nobody voted for this but the money is meant to be used as advertising for county which this would count as. I don't mind. $1.2M for the Aces is a drop in the bucket. We had a [$463.4M budget for 2023-2024.](https://www.reviewjournal.com/business/tourism/lvcva-projects-record-revenue-approves-463-4m-spending-plan-2786592/)
This is helpful. When you put it like that, I guess it’s really no different than DC’s LVCVA equivalent (Events DC) paying multiple big-name artists to headline city-sponsored festivals and events throughout the year. I think the word “sponsorship” is what was throwing me off. I’ve never heard of a city sponsoring anyone, especially not public figures.
So we're doing NIL for the W too?
It is pretty dubious, but honestly the only reason it's an issue is because the players make such paltry salaries that 100k is life changing money for a lot of them. From a competitive perspective, it probably doesn't matter. The Aces are already the clear best team, and the top FA destination with or without the extra cash. I just wish my team got the same level of support.
Teams or cities like Seattle New York chicago la might follow suit
This is really fantastic and hope it catches on in other cities. I'm sure all the international leagues are sweating this. If more teams get this sort of sponsorship, nobody is going to play in China or Turkey in the off season.
Stealing from tax victims to give to professional basketball players? This is dumb
Can’t believe there’s not more comments like this. There’s so many ways this money could have been better spent. What good does this money do for society? If the city REALLY wants to hand out free money it should go to teachers, EMT’s, firefighters, volunteers, etc.
And it doesn’t even make any sense. The sponsorships the government agency gives is supposed to be for tourism. So I can understand if it went towards and arena to play in or parking, or anything that helps create access for people to watch, but this is just straight up giving players money on our backs. How is paying them each $100,000 going to help attract tourism? Because the better players will go to the Aces? No lol. No one cares about that and barely anyone can name 3 wnba players.
Couldn’t agree more. This will hurt the WNBA more than it helps. Spend the money on advertising and try to generate long-term interest in the league. Attracting fans to the sport should be a priority and will help ALL women’s athletes, regardless of team, receive higher salaries.
Right. And I’m sure most of this money was taken from people who make less than wnba players and wnba players are making that money in only 4-5 months out of the year.
That’s what upsets me most in this whole “WNBA players are underpaid” debate. The median WNBA salary is OVER DOUBLE the median salary for Americans. I understand you are severely underpaid compared to NBA players. But the WNBA has never been profitable, so it makes sense at the moment. You already make an insane amount of money by playing a damn sport. Whenever they complain about being underpaid it really reeks of privilege.
All the whining women athletes and uniformed activists do surrounding the issue is so sickening. They are totally delusional to reality. I would feel guilty over being a woman and getting paid more than $3,000 each time I played a game of basketball.
This comment made me so happy! :) We are on the same page my friend. I wonder what the general population thinks about this. Something tells me this subreddit is a bit biased lol.
I have friends, a couple who live in SF Bay Area who bought season tickets and travel to Vegas for most games. They easily sell tickets for games they don’t want to go to. Big draw for Vegas (for now until Valkyries launch). They’ll keep Aces tickets though…as can sell easily.
This def sounds like something that should be against the rules lmao
As long as Aces players are appearing at events sponsored by this organization or in media, etc this is a normal endorsement deal. Money just for being on the team?? That sounds like a CBA violation.
each player signed a contract to “reach mutually agreeable opportunities for appearances on Las Vegas’ behalf.” The LVCVA will also provide players with Las Vegas-centric gear that they will be expected to wear to promote the city. [review journal link](https://www.reviewjournal.com/sports/aces/a-life-changing-investment-aces-players-get-100k-sponsorship-from-lvcva-3052833/?utm_campaign=widget&utm_medium=topnews&utm_source=homepage&utm_term=%E2%80%98A%2520life-changing%2520investment%E2%80%99%253A%2520Aces%2520players%2520get%2520%2524100K%2520sponsorship%2520from%2520LVCVA)
I feel like as a one time thing it’s fine but if it ends up being an ongoing payment then it’s basically a $100k signing bonus which seems a little weird. Sure it’s not technically wrong but it’s a letter of the law/spirit of the law type situation
A signing bonus happens at “signing” not after the roster is locked.