Las Vegas Aces Make WNBA History in LV With Home-Opener Sunday, But Team Loses to Seattle Storm
By ALAN SNEL
LVSportsBiz.com
Boys II Men performed the national anthem, UFC Octagon announcer Bruce Buffer cajoled fans to get stoked and Jabbawockeez dancers did a halftime show.
MGM Resorts International. which knows a thing or two about entertainment, entered a brand new world of women’s pro basketball Sunday when the hotel-casino company’s Las Vegas Aces WNBA team played its regular season home-opener in a refurbished Mandalay Bay Events Center.
The Aces hosted the Seattle Storm at the renovated arena, which has a new center scoreboard, new seats and a new team that was purchased and moved from San Antonio by MGM Resorts.
The Storm beat the Aces, 105-98. The team has lost its first three games.
Fans filled many of the venue’s seats and the team’s press release said the Aces played “in front of a capacity crowd if 7,662.”
But LVSportsBiz.com saw open seats around the arena, which received an $8 million-$10 million overhaul. And both the Review-Journal and Las Vegas Sun reported the attendance was 4,467. MGM Resorts International has declined to say how many season ticket deals have been sold. But LVSportsBiz.com would estimate around 2,000.
The team hosted Raiders owner Mark Davis, who is moving his NFL team from Oakland to Las Vegas to play in a $1.8 billion domed, 65,000-seat stadium.
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And some fans also had another team on their mind.
MGM Resorts International is using its properties to promote the Aces. The logo is on the Mandalay Bay marquee and you can pose with these cutouts in the Mandalay Bay casino.
The Aces’ next game is May 31 in Seattle.
