ADVERTISEMENT
Shop at Jay’s Market at 190 East Flamingo Road at the Koval Lane intersection east of the Strip.
ADVERTISEMENT
By Alan Snel, LVSportsBiz.com Publisher-Writer
Mark Davis said his love for women’s hoops is traced back to his dad, famed Raiders owner Al Davis, who watched women’s basketball games.
Davis bought the Las Vegas Aces in 2021 and talked candidly about increasing Aces season ticket holders for the first time since buying the WNBA team from MGM Resorts International.
Davis wasn’t thrilled about having to increase ticket prices for the Aces’ 8,592 season ticket holders.
Davis joked about the debate with staff about increasing ticket prices, “There was a fight. There was no blood, but there could have been.”
The bottom line is that the average Aces ticket of nearly $31 ($30.78) in 2024 is going up to an average ticket price of nearly $44 ($43.95) in 2025. That’s an increase of about 42 percent. These two graphics show the 2024 and 2025 season ticket prices:
Compared to average ticket prices at other big league games at NFL Raiders, NHL Golden Knights and F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix, an average ticket cost of $44 is still an affordable option in the competitive and growing Las Vegas sports market.
Davis stressed he has not increased season ticket prices since buying the Aces from MGM Resorts International more than three years ago. MGM Resorts’ former CEO, Jim Murren, was a driving force in the Las Vegas-based hotel-casino company acquiring the former San Antonio team and rebranding it into the Aces in 2018. For his first Aces season in 2021, Davis actually refunded season ticket costs to the team’s 1,200 season ticket holders. The Aces now have nearly 8,600 season ticket holders.
Matt Delsen, the Aces’ chief operating officer and chief financial officer, said parking will remain free for current season ticket holders who renew their ticket deal. In some cases, parking can cost $40 for non-season ticket holders — nearly the amount of the average $44 season ticket price in 2025. The Aces have 3,300 parking spaces at the Mandalay Bay hotel-casino, home of Michelob Ultra Arena.
Davis and Delsen joined Aces team president Nikki Fargas in a recent meeting to explain the ticket price hikes that went out to the team’s season ticket holders Monday at 11 AM. Keep in mind the WNBA season is expanding from 40 games in 2024 to 44 games in 2025.
In 2024, a remarkable 86.6 percent of all season ticket holders (7,437 of 8,592) had ticket price deals of $25 per game or less. The price increase for 2025 means that 72.3 percent of all season ticket holders (6,212 of 8,592) would pay for tickets of $25 or less.
Season ticket deals are automatically renewed, so Aces fans with season tickets who don’t want to renew would have to say no before a deadline of Aug. 15.
Fargas offered some interesting demo data like that 52 percent of season ticket holders are men.
Davis also mentioned that the Aces will not do dynamic pricing where different ticket prices are charged based on the team’s opponent.
The Aces will continue to use Michelob Ultra Arena at Mandalay Bay hotel-casino as their home court, though they do have the option of using T-Mobile Arena as they have for two games this season.
Davis noted Lee’s Family Forum arena in Henderson, which is run by VGK owner Bill Foley sports and entertainment group, pitched the Aces on using its arena. But that arena has about 6,000 seats, while Michelob Ultra Arena has about 10,000.
The Aces compete against other sports teams in the Las Vegas sports market such as the UNLV football team that has a season ticket deal with the lowest price of $24 per game for six home games. The Las Vegas Lights soccer team is offering reserved sideline and general admission tickets for the final six home games for $99.