In Tough Situation, Raiders/Aces Owner Mark Davis Chooses Raiders In LA Over Aces In Vegas To Watch In Person On Sunday
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By Alan Snel, LVSportsBiz.com Publisher/Writer
It was a tough choice, but Raiders/Aces owner Mark Davis will be in Los Angeles to watch the Raiders play the Chargers Sunday at 1:25 PM Sunday instead of witnessing the Aces host Connecticut in Game 1 of the 2022 WNBA Finals at 12 noon at Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas .
LVSportsBiz.com raised the issue of the schedule conflict facing Davis, now in his second season of owning the WNBA team that defeated the Seattle Storm Tuesday to face the Sun at Mandalay Bay’s arena on Sunday.
Davis told USA Today he will be at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood for the Raiders’ season-opener against the Los Angeles Chargers and not at the Aces’ Finals opener against Connecticut, which knocked out Chicago to reach the WNBA Finals.
Aces center and WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson said even if Davis not watching the Aces in person, the team can still feel his energy at Game 1.
“That’s his bread and butter,” Wilson said of the Raiders. “His energy will be there” at Game 1.
Added Aces forward Iliana Rupert on Davis being at the Raiders game: “It’s like being a single parent and you have to choose between both. We know how much our team means to him. He’s behind us. It’s fine.”
Aces coach Becky Hammon said there will be more Finals games for Davis to attend — like Tuesday’s Game 2 in Las Vegas.
“This is our first game,” Hammon said of Sunday’s opening contest. “There will be more games.”
The interesting commonality between the Aces and the Sun both play their home games on casino properties — the Aces at Mandalay Bay hotel-casino and the Sun at Mohegan Sun casino and resort.
Davis was put into a tough bind of choosing between his two teams because the WNBA schedule maker set up Finals Game 1 against the NFL’s first Sunday of the season.
The twist in Davis’ personal schedule is that he told USA Today that he will travel to Connecticut for Aces-Sun Game 4 on Sept. 18 if there is a Game 4 and miss the Raiders’ home-opener against the Arizona Cardinals at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas a week from tomorrow.
Davis compared the schedule conflict to the concept of trying to decide between your kids’ events.
