Thursday Roundup: Aces On TV, VGK Playoffs Watch Parties, Mammoth Owner Invites Fans To Arena Suite
By Alan Snel, LVSportsBiz.com Publisher-Writer
LAS VEGAS, Nevada — The Las Vegas Aces will be on national TV a lot in 2026.
The WNBA’s defending champs, led by superstar A’ja Wilson and guards Jackie Young and Chelsea Gray, are slated to appear nationally in 33 of 44 regular season games.
Plus, as part of the Aces partnership with Scripps Sports, 26 of the Aces games will be broadcast locally on either The Spot-Vegas 34 or KTNV-TV Channel 13, the ABC affiliate in Las Vegas.
The remaining Aces games not on The Spot-Vegas 34 or KTNV are included in the league’s 33 nationally televised games, so local Aces fans can watch every game this season.
Now in its 30 year as a WNBA franchise across three cities, the Las Vegas Aces start their 2026 season May 9 at 12:30PM Vegas time in a rematch against Phoenix, their 2025 WNBA Finals opponent.
The Vegas Golden Knights-Utah Mammoth first round playoff series, tied at a game apiece, moves to Salt Lake City Friday and the VGK are hosting two watch parties for Game 3 Friday.
One is at Stadium Swim at Circa in downtown Las Vegas, while the other will be at Mackenzie River pizzeria restaurant at City National Arena in Downtown Summerlin.
Friday’s parties begin at 5:30PM Vegas time, with game time set for 6:30PM p.m. PT. Both watch parties will feature visits from the VGK Cast and raffle prizes, including tickets to future Golden Knights games. Giveaways for all fans include VGK sunglasses and rally towels. At Stadium Swim, all fans wearing VGK gear will receive free admission.
Speaking of the Mammoth, the man who bought the former Arizona Coyotes franchise is quite the fan of his own team.
Utah Mammoth (and Jazz) owner Ryan Smith enjoys schmoozing with Mammoth fans and was seen on the T-Mobile Arena plaza chatting it up with Utah fans before Games 1 and 2 in Vegas.
He’s going to host eight fans in his arena suite for VGK-Utah Game 3 Friday and he’s inviting fans with VGK jerseys to trade them in for a new Utah Mammoth sweater Friday.
If you’re a big sports event in Las Vegas, an easy PR move is to plant trees.
The 2024 NFL Super Bowl did that.
And now the Las Vegas Grand Prix planted trees at the Kellogg Zaher Sports Complex as part of the Trees for Overtakes program. It’s the ‘Trees for Overtakes’ program for F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix to donate three trees for every overtake (any time cars changed positions on track) during the race. This year’s planting of 222 trees contributes to ImpactNV’s 100,000 Tree Plan, a community initiative supported by SNWA.
