By Alan Snel
LVSportsBiz.com
Jackie Young is the rookie on the team, but even she knows a basic sports marketing tenet about drawing more fans to Las Vegas Aces at Mandalay Bay Events Center on the Strip.
“Before you knock it, give women’s basketball a chance,” said Young, a six-foot guard from Notre Dame who was the Aces’ top draft pick. “That’s the hardest part. They never watched a game. Give it a chance.”
The Las Vegas Aces, owned by MGM Resorts International, is more prepared for Season 2’s 34-game schedule after a short runway to launch Season 1 in Las Vegas. MGM Resorts purchased the WNBA San Antonio franchise in late 2017, and about a half-year later the newly re-branded Aces were taking the court.
The Aces — both on the court and in the game experience category — got off to a sluggish start before hitting their stride by the mid-season in Year 1.
Interestingly enough, the new WNBA team in Las Vegas was not only known as a competitive team but included a few players who spoke out about pay equity and the commercial airplane flights that led to the Aces players deciding to not play a game against Washington after several flight delays last season.
LVSportsBiz.com spoke with seven-season Aces veteran Carolyn Swords, a six-foot, six-inch center, about the travel issue for WNBA teams.
“The travel issue is really a health issue,” Swords said during Monday’s Aces media day at the Mandalay Bay Events Center. Swords said players need proper sleep, rehab work and conditioning before they take the court. And WNBA teams fly commercial just like every other air traveller — and do not take charter flights like the NBA teams.
Not only did the Aces shine a spotlight on the WNBA teams’ travel issues, some Aces players also tweeted out comments about pay equity issues in a league.
LVSportsBiz.com reported in a marketing story on Aces star center A’ja Wilson that WNBA players receive salaries in the $50,000 to $112,000 range. The average NBA salary is $6.4 million, the highest in sports, and the team salary cap is $99 million. Wilson’s tweet on pay equity drew a loud reaction.
“The compensation should reflect the growth of the league,” said Swords, a Boston College product.
To draw more fans to the arena that was renovated by MGM Resorts last season, the in-game presentation is getting fine-tuned and juiced up with more LED lights and in-arena cameras.
The game experience will again feature “Big D,” local radio personality Wayne Danielson who also worked Golden Knights games at T-Mobile Arena, and his Aces emcee partner CJ Simpson. And also returning is in-game arena announcer Chet Buchanan, a radio personality who also was the arena announcer for UNLV basketball games at Thomas & Mack Center.
To juice up the game experience for fans, the number of intelligent lighting devices has been doubled and the in-house cameras have increased from three to five, said Blake Broaddus, game presentation manager.
The Cirque du Soleil and Blue Man Group acts will perform at some halftimes, while local performers will fill 90-second spots during breaks in the action, Broaddus said.
“That’s what draws people — the presentation,” said Wilson, who attended Golden Knights games and saw the hockey team’s over-the-top game presentation at nearby T-Mobile Arena.
The mascot, BUCKET$, is also returning and he’ll be involved in a fan game where an Aces fan will try to make a three-point shot as the BUCKET$ mascot jumps on a trampoline and tries to swat the shots away. A fan who makes the shot will get a $500 MGM Resorts gift card, but if a fan doesn’t make a shot another $500 is added per game until a fan does sink the shot, Broaddus said.
The Aces will also feature fashion videos of some of the players such as Wilson walking through the hallways of Mandalay Bay Events Center a la the televised pre-game tunnel walks of NBA stars during NBA game broadcasts.
“I’m not too flamboyant,” Wilson told LVSportsBiz.com Monday. She does plan to wear her LeBron James sneakers — so those could get some video time. Here’s a photo of her James basketball shoes.
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