BetMGM Cuts Sportsbook, Online Casino Deal With Las Vegas Aces, WNBA Through 2027 Season

May 30, 2025May 30, 2025 Alan Snel Lance Evans, Mark Davis, Nikki Fargas

Aces/Raiders owner Mark Davis with Aces team president Nikki Fargas. Photo credit. J. Tyge O’Donnell/LVSportsBiz.com

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By Alan Snel, LVSportsBiz.com Publisher-Writer

LAS VEGAS, Nevada — Mark Davis may own the WNBA Las Vegas Aces now, but it was hotel-casino company MGM Resorts International that bought the franchise when it was in San Antonio, moved the team to its arena at Mandalay Bay hotel-casino and rebranded the sports property into the Aces in 2018.

With that type of legacy, MGM Resorts’ sports betting operator, BetMGM, said this week it has cut an exclusive online casino and sportsbook partnership with the Aces.

The agreement runs through the 2027 WNBA season.

It’s significant because it’s BetMGM’s first major partnership with a women’s professional sports franchise.

Aces team president Nikki Fargas pointed out in an interview before the Aces’ 96-81 win over the Los Angeles Sparks Friday night that the deal included donations to The Just One Project for hungry people:

The BetMGM/Aces agreement also includes prominent signage at Mandalay Bay’s Michelob ULTRA Arena and sponsorship across the Aces’ social media platforms.

The partnership allows for BetMGM players to have courtside access to pre-game shootarounds and luxury VIP seating.

Aces owner Mark Davis, who also owns the NFL Raiders, enjoys a play.

BetMGM is also a gaming partner of the WNBA. BetMGM will receive commercial inventory on nationally televised games, WNBA tickets/experiences for its VIP players, the rights to co-branded content across BetMGM’s digital and social platforms, and articles on wnba.com/WNBABet.

Additionally, BetMGM plans to release a WNBA-branded online slot game in jurisdictions where its iGaming platform is live. The slot game will be available exclusively at BetMGM and represents the first-ever WNBA online casino game.

Aces/Raiders owner Mark Davis talking with WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert before Aces playoff game. Photo credit: Hugh Byrne/LVSportsBiz.com

Lance Evans, SVP of sports and sponsorships at MGM Resorts International, said, “Since 2018, the Las Vegas Aces have played a pivotal role in our city’s growth as a global sports and entertainment destination. Together with BetMGM, we look forward to hosting gameday events at Mandalay Bay, as well as our other properties, allowing local and visiting fans to interact with their favorite basketball teams.”

PSA

Alan Snel

Alan Snel brings decades of sports-business reporting experience to LVSportsBiz.com. Snel covered the business side of sports for the South Florida (Fort Lauderdale) Sun-Sentinel, the Tampa Tribune and Las Vegas Review-Journal. As a city hall beat reporter, Snel also covered stadium deals in Denver and Seattle. In 2000, Snel launched a sport-business website for FoxSports.com called FoxSportsBiz.com. After reporting sports-business for the RJ, Snel wrote hard-hitting stories on the Raiders stadium for the Desert Companion magazine in Las Vegas and The Nevada Independent. Snel is also one of the top bicycle advocates in the country.

July 5, 2021

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LVSPORTSBIZ.COM, launched June 2017: We are a digital magazine providing market-leading news, intelligence, enterprise and breaking info on Las Vegas’ sports/stadium industry. Our stories are quoted nationally and we set the sportsbiz news agenda in Las Vegas. Publisher Alan Snel has reported on the business of sports and stadiums in Denver, South Florida, Seattle and Tampa besides Las Vegas and is considered a national authority on the topic. Our story of the month on F1 economics and race event in Las Vegas.

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To contact LVSportsBiz.com Publisher Alan Snel or buy his book, Bicycle Man: Life of Journeys, email him at asnel@LVSportsBiz.com

LVSportsBiz number for 2025: $1,178,161,041. That’s the amount of debt Las Vegas (actually, Clark County) owes for its public share of building the Raiders’ Allegiant Stadium.