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WNBA investigating $100,000 annual sponsorships for Aces players from Las Vegas tourism authority
The WNBA is investigating whether the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority’s $100,000 annual sponsorship to Aces players for this season and next is allowed.
A league spokesperson confirmed Saturday that there is an open investigation looking into the deal. The sponsorships do not violate the WNBA’s salary cap because the Las Vegas authority did not orchestrate them with the club. But other teams likely were raising questions about the fairness of the sponsorships and whether they violates the spirit of the cap rules.
“I’ll put it to you real simple. Most of sponsorship people go after the top two people,” Aces coach Becky Hammon said. “This situation from what I understand is, they wanted the whole team. They called individual agents. I don’t know the details. I have nothing to do with it. The Aces don’t have anything to do with it. That’s what happened.”
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This isn’t the Aces first run-in with the league over the last few years. Last year, the WNBA suspended Hammon for two games and took away the Aces’ 2025 first-round draft pick because the franchise violated league rules regarding impermissible player benefits and workplace policies.
“Just another day in the life of the Aces. We can’t just ever start normal,” star A’ja Wilson said. “There’s always going to be something and that’s OK. When we’re talking about growing the game or taking the next step it can’t always be investigated. It has to be like we’re trying to make things better for franchises, for players for teams.”
The head of the authority feels they did nothing wrong.
“We did this the right way,” authority president and CEO Steve Hill told The Associated Press on Saturday. “We did something that we think works for Las Vegas and I think great for the players. We did this without the team. It was our idea and any questions they ask they’ll find that out.”
The authority posted a video on X of Hill telling the players in the locker room the news on Friday.
“We have 100 influencers we pay to represent Las Vegas,” Hill told the AP. “This isn’t any different then that. All of these ladies are completely eligible to have sponsorships. We are just asking them to represent Vegas.”
The players were thrilled by the move.
“The city of Vegas I’ve always said, it’s a big small town and they just want the best for the people here,” point guard Chelsea Gray said before the Aces’ home game Saturday against the Los Angeles Sparks. “They’re investing in us and so they put their money where their mouth is. We’ve done so much for the city and having fun doing it.
“It was a great moment for me and my teammates, of somebody actually putting funds behind, saying that they’re supporting and they want to have our back.”
According to the website Spotrac, which tracks player salaries, the sponsorship is higher than the earnings of six Aces players.
“Definitely more than my salary,” said rookie Kate Martin, who makes $67,249, according to the website. “I’m super thankful. Sometimes I have to pinch myself to make sure I’m not dreaming, but this is very much real life and that is what all these players deserve. I wouldn’t be getting this crazy bonus if it weren’t for how great all of these players have played in the last few years.”
The $100,000 also is a big addition even to what the top players make. A’ja Wilson and Kelsey Plum are the highest-paid Aces at $200,000 each and Gray is right behind at $196,267.
“(For) the LVCVA to see our value and to help close that pay gap, it says a lot about the character of the people that are there,” said Alysha Clark, whose salary is listed at $110,000. “So I’m extremely grateful. I’m honored to be able to represent this organization and this city and be able to put on for the city, give back to this city and pour into the community, and that’s what they did for us. It was really, really special.”
The issue of WNBA salaries as compared to those of NBA players has received renewed scrutiny after it was revealed last month that No. 1 overall pick Caitlin Clark, who has emerged as one of America’s most popular athletes, would be earning just over $76,500 her rookie year with the Indiana Fever, and roughly $338,000 over the four-year deal she signed.
While the former Iowa State star is expected to earn lucrative sponsorship deals as a professional, for comparison, San Antonio Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama, the No. 1 pick in last summer’s NBA draft, made more than $12 million in salary this season, according to Spotrac.
The issue even prompted President Biden to weigh in, who posted on social media April 16 that “women in sports continue to push new boundaries and inspire us all. But right now we’re seeing that even if you’re the best, women are not paid their fair share. It’s time that we give our daughters the same opportunities as our sons and ensure women are paid what they deserve.”
The WNBA has made strides in promoting pay equity in recent years. While NBA players collectively receive roughly 50% of the league’s revenue, WNBA players previously took home less than 23%. But that figure jumped to 50% under the latest labor deal with the league.
— Megan Cerullo contributed to this report.
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Former Bolivian President Evo Morales claims his car was fired upon in attempted assassination
Former President Evo Morales of Bolivia claimed he survived an assassination attempt on Sunday after unidentified men opened fire on his car. He was not injured and there was no immediate confirmation of the attack from authorities.
Morales alleged the shots were fired while he was being driven in Bolivia’s coca leaf-growing region of Chapare, the ex-president’s rural stronghold whose residents have blockaded the country’s main east-west highway for the past two weeks.
The roadblocks — protesting what Morales’ supporters decry as President Luis Arce’s attempts to sabotage his former mentor and bitter political rival — have isolated cities and disrupted food and fuel supplies.
Morales, who led Bolivia from 2006 to 2019, emerged unscathed from the alleged attack Sunday, appearing on his weekly radio show in his usual calm manner to recount what happened.
He told the radio host that as he was leaving home for the radio station, hooded men fired at least 14 shots at his car, wounding his driver.
Morales was quick to blame his successor, President Arce, with whom he is fighting to be the candidate of governing socialist party in next year’s presidential election. He claimed that Arce’s government resorted to physical force having been unable to defeat him politically.
Juan Karita / AP
“Arce is going to go down as the worst president in history,” Morales said. “Shooting a former president is the last straw.”
Officials in Arce’s government did not respond to requests for comment on the incident.
Cellphone video circulating online shows Morales’ driver bleeding from the back of his head. Morales can be seen in the passenger’s seat holding a phone to his ear as the vehicle swerves and a woman’s voice shrieks “Duck!”
The footage shows the car’s front windshield cracked by at least three bullets and its rear windshield shattered. Morales can be heard saying, “Papacho has been shot in the head,” apparently referring to his driver.
“They are shooting at us,” Morales continues on the phone. “They shot the tire of the car and it stopped on the road.”
Morales’ claim deepens political tensions in Bolivia at a volatile moment for the cash-strapped Andean nation of 12 million.
In June, there was an apparent attempted coup by a rogue military general leading a rebellion, where armored vehicles and troops marched to the presidential palace and tried to force their way into the building. The rebellion retreated after Arce confronted the general, bringing the alleged coup attempt to a head, and ordered him to stand down. The general and other senior officers were later arrested.
Then, last month, Morales led a massive march against the government’s mismanagement of the economy that quickly devolved into street clashes with pro-government mobs. Imported goods are scarce and prices are rising. Drivers wait for hours to fill up at gas stations. The gap between the official and black-market exchange rates is widening.
Earlier this month, the feud between Morales and Arce moved to the courts as Bolivian prosecutors launched an investigation into accusations that Morales fathered a child with a 15-year-old girl in 2016, classifying their relationship as statutory rape.
Morales has dismissed the allegations as politically motivated and refused to testify in the case. Since reports surfaced of a possible arrest warrant against him, the ex-president has been holed up in the Chapare region, in central Bolivia, where supportive coca growers have kept vigilant watch to protect him from arrest.
President Arce accuses Morales of trying to undermine his administration to advance his own ambitions.
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