Are Las Vegas Aces in hot water for sponsoring each player with $100K? Closer look at aftermath of WNBA franchise's bold move

All 12 Las Vegas Aces players received a major surprise ahead of tip-off for Saturday's game against the LA Sparks. After back-to-back championships, the city of Las Vegas is now awarding players with individual $100,000 sponsorships for helping bring tourism to the city. The news was groundbreaking and earned LA plenty of praise from fans.

However, as per journalist Howard Megdal, WNBA has opened an investigation into the matter.

Some theorized that the situation violates the WNBA's Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), given that it's a payment that doesn't take into account the salary cap. As others pointed out, however, it could be an unfair advantage in free agency because other WNBA players will want to pursue the $100,000.

In an article for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, however, league insider Callie Lawson-Freeman explained that the deal isn't in violation of any WNBA rules.

Using other examples of how the Las Vegas tourism sector has partnered with other athletes for deals similar to NIL deals, she explained the deal is with players, not the team. Because of this, it seems likely that the WNBA's investigation will come up empty.

"We want you to just play." The Las Vegas tourism President likes what Las Vegas Aces bring to the city

The Las Vegas Aces players were announced to receive $100,000 in sponsorship deals by the President of the Vegas tourism sector, Steve Hill. A video of the announcement was shared on social media.

Before the team's Saturday game against the LA Sparks, Steve Hill visited the Las Vegas Aces' locker room to deliver the good news to the players, informing them that the city is offering $100,000 in sponsorships.

The only condition? Hill and the Vegas tourism sector simply want the players of the Las Vegas Aces to continue to play and represent the city.

"We want to recognize you individually, we want to put some money in your pockets," Hill said. "We've got an offer for you. We think it's a great offer for us. We hope you think it's a great offer for you. We'd like to offer each of you, individually, a sponsorship for this year in the amount of $100,000.

"The offer's really simple. We want you to just play. We want you to keep repping Las Vegas, and if you do a three-peat, that will be icing on the cake. That's it."

As Hill mentioned, the team is on a historic run that has seen them go back-to-back in the WNBA Finals. To put this in perspective, in the history of the WNBA, only two other teams besides the Las Vegas Aces have ever won back-to-back titles.

Throughout the league's history, only one team has ever won three straight championships: the Houston Comets. With a chance for history, things just seem to be getting better and better for the Aces.