{"id":65827,"date":"2017-12-18T18:00:53","date_gmt":"2017-12-19T02:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=65827"},"modified":"2017-12-18T15:13:05","modified_gmt":"2017-12-18T23:13:05","slug":"wnbas-las-vegas-aces-struggle-citys-attention-wagers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wnbas-las-vegas-aces-struggle-citys-attention-wagers\/","title":{"rendered":"WNBA\u2019s Las Vegas Aces Could Struggle for City\u2019s Attention, Wagers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Once a sports desert, Las Vegas is finding itself suddenly flooded with professional sports teams<\/a>. In a city now with an NHL franchise, and soon an NFL team, the WNBA\u2019s Las Vegas Aces will join the mix having to battle for fans, but maybe not for bettors\u00a0as owners MGM Resorts announced last week that they wouldn\u2019t be accepting wagers on the newest local team at their 10 casino sportsbooks.<\/p>\n

\"Las
Members of the Vegas Golden Knights attended a welcome party for the newest pro athletes in town, the Las Vegas Aces. (Image: Las Vegas Review-Journal)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The practice of limiting bets on teams with a vested interests in casinos has been standard practice to stay in good graces with the Nevada Gaming Control Board. Caesars Entertainment properties, for example, do not take bets on the NBA\u2019s Boston Celtics because company Chairman Gary Loveman has an ownership interest in the team. The Golden Nugget in downtown Las Vegas won\u2019t take wagers on the Houston Rockets now that Tilman Fertitta owns both the casino and the team.<\/p>\n

MGM Resorts sportsbook director Jay Rood told the Las Vegas Review-Journal<\/em> that they are considering not accepting bets on any of the women\u2019s professional basketball teams, as a simple business decision, as there seldom is much interest.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I say pretty light, I mean almost nonexistent,\u201d Rood said. \u201cWe might just absolutely eliminate [the WNBA] from our offerings at this point. In the big scope of things, it\u2019s really very, very small from a handle and win-loss perspective. The handle for the entire year in the WNBA is probably less than what we do on a really good NFL game.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Gambling on Women\u2019s Sports<\/h2>\n

Since its inception in 1996, the WNBA has struggled financially, though its monetary fortunes have improved in recent years. The league had been kept alive by the NBA, spending $10 million a year to keep it from folding. By 2013, however, half of the teams were reporting a profit.<\/p>\n

The Aces will be the third of 12 teams to have a gambling association. The New York Liberty are sponsored by Draft Kings<\/a>, the daily fantasy sports giant, and were formerly associated with Foxwoods Casino. The Phoenix Mercury signed a deal with Casino Arizona three years ago.<\/p>\n

Attendance has always been an issue, but that appears to be improving. In 2017, WNBA attendance averaged 7,716 per game, its most since 2011. The Aces, previously the San Antonio Stars, were one of the worst teams in the league last year, but still drew about 6,000 fans to each game.<\/p>\n

In 2015, they had a total attendance of 80,766 for 34 games. By comparison, the new home of the Las Vegas Raiders will seat 65,000 and is expected to be filled to capacity for its eight home games in 2020. The Vegas Golden Knights play at T-Mobile Arena and have had approximately 18,000 for every one of its 15 home games so far in its inaugural season.<\/p>\n

Home Team Hoops<\/h2>\n

The Aces will play in the 12,000-seat Mandalay Bay Events Center, which is known more for concerts than sporting events. The next WNBA season begins in May and ends in September.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cAn Ace is their name, and an ace signifies that you\u2019re the best, you\u2019re at the top of the game of whatever you\u2019re trying to do,\u201d WNBA President Lisa Borders told the Review-Journal<\/em>. \u201cThat\u2019s who MGM is. I think they\u2019re going to pull that value and bring that to life with this team.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

MGM welcomed the new home team, and newest addition to an expanding Las Vegas sports scene, earlier in December at the House of Blues inside Mandalay Bay.<\/p>\n

Amid confetti and Cirque de Soleil performers, the message was that the city was ready to embrace team, and embrace the women\u2019s game. Even if you can\u2019t bet on the Las Vegas Aces.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Once a sports desert, Las Vegas is finding itself suddenly flooded with professional sports teams. In a city now with an NHL franchise, and soon an NFL team, the WNBA\u2019s Las Vegas Aces will join the mix having to battle for fans, but maybe not for bettors\u00a0as owners MGM Resorts announced last week that they […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":65828,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,16,1074],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWNBA\u2019s Las Vegas Aces Could Struggle for City\u2019s Attention, Wagers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"MGM Resorts said their sportsbooks will not take bets on the WNBA team they own, the Las Vegas Aces, and might not spread bets for any WNBA teams.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wnbas-las-vegas-aces-struggle-citys-attention-wagers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"WNBA\u2019s Las Vegas Aces Could Struggle for City\u2019s Attention, Wagers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"MGM Resorts said their sportsbooks will not take bets on the WNBA team they own, the Las Vegas Aces, and might not spread bets for any WNBA teams.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wnbas-las-vegas-aces-struggle-citys-attention-wagers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-12-19T02:00:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-12-18T23:13:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/LVaces.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"427\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wnbas-las-vegas-aces-struggle-citys-attention-wagers\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wnbas-las-vegas-aces-struggle-citys-attention-wagers\/\",\"name\":\"WNBA\u2019s Las Vegas Aces Could Struggle for City\u2019s Attention, Wagers\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wnbas-las-vegas-aces-struggle-citys-attention-wagers\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wnbas-las-vegas-aces-struggle-citys-attention-wagers\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/LVaces.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-12-19T02:00:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-12-18T23:13:05+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77\"},\"description\":\"MGM Resorts said their sportsbooks will not take bets on the WNBA team they own, the Las Vegas Aces, and might not spread bets for any WNBA teams.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wnbas-las-vegas-aces-struggle-citys-attention-wagers\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wnbas-las-vegas-aces-struggle-citys-attention-wagers\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wnbas-las-vegas-aces-struggle-citys-attention-wagers\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/LVaces.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/LVaces.jpg\",\"width\":640,\"height\":427,\"caption\":\"Members of the Vegas Golden Knights attended a welcome party for the newest pro athletes in town, the Las Vegas Aces. 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