The past week has been bursting with news about the business of women’s basketball:
Aces top WNBA team valuations
For the first time, Sportico shared its estimated valuations of WNBA franchises. Together, the league’s 12 teams are worth $1.16 billion, with the Las Vegas Aces coming in as the most valuable at $140 million. The Seattle Storm and New York Liberty follow at $135 million and $130 million, respectively. Not coincidentally, all three of those franchises have sparkling, new practice facilities. The Phoenix Mercury, set to have their own dedicated space in a shared facility with the NBA’s Suns, already are fourth-most valuable team at $105 million.
— Sportico (@Sportico) June 18, 2024The first-ever @WNBA valuations:
The 12 WNBA teams are collectively worth $1.16 billion and range from $140 million (@LVAces) to $55 million (@AtlantaDream). https://t.co/PanfHz1yVg pic.twitter.com/iR87NCyYdF
As the average franchise valuation is $96 million, the $50 million expansion fees for the Golden State Valkyries, debuting in 2025, and the Toronto franchise, scheduled to debut in 2026, stand as significant deals. And as noted by Just Women’s Sports, the valuations could empower the WNBPA when they likely opt out of the current CBA at the end of this season and begin to negotiate the next labor agreement.
More updates about investigation into LVCVA-Aces deal
On Tuesday, Steve Hill, Las Vegas’ tourism chief, was interviewed by the law firm Kobre & Kim, LLP as part of the WNBA’s investigation into the possibly impermissible sponsorship deals that the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) presented to Las Vegas Aces players in May. Hill has contended that the LVCVA adhered to WNBA policies when arranging the $100,000-per player sponsorships.
The Las Vegas tourism chief said he will interview Tuesday with the lead investigator who is examining whether WNBA rules were broken when sponsorship deals were offered last month to Las Vegas Aces players. https://t.co/tT2OTWn3VF
— ESPN Women's Hoops (@ESPN_WomenHoop) June 18, 2024
On Wednesday, Howard Megdal published an interview with Hill at The IX. Asked by Megdal to clarify what he meant when he told members of the Aces, “The offer is really simple. We want you to just play, keep repping Las Vegas. And if you get a three-peat, that will be icing on the cake,” Hill asserted:
The rep Vegas part is where the deliverables are, right? I’ll tell you what we met by ‘just play’. And that was not off the cuff for me. The message there is, we want these ladies to have the opportunity to be able to make a choice for themselves that is not driven by I gotta go to Europe to play in the offseason. We want them to stay in town. We want them to rep Vegas year round. And many of them don’t have that option. And so we wanted to lift that burden and give them the option for staying in town. Just play stay in town, rep Vegas.
Good morning! The #WNBA investigation into the Aces is coming into greater focus this week, and LVCVA president Steve Hill spoke w/ the firm investigating. He talks to me @TheIXNewsletter about it, where we break down the legal and CBA issues in question: https://t.co/kfJHQf4TiD
— Howard Megdal (@howardmegdal) June 20, 2024
Megdal, however, identifies some lingering inconsistent, or at least unclear, details. While Hill had stated that the Aces organization knew nothing about the deal, the LVCVA first had to complete a $250,000 sponsorship agreement with the organization for use of the team’s logo in promotional materials. That was finalized on May 3. Hill emphasized to Megdal that this arrangement was not facilitated by Aces owner Mark Davis, who is purportedly friendly with Hill, although Hill described their relationship as “cordial, but not social” to Megdal.
Furthermore, league sources have stressed to Megdal that defining the sponsorship deals as team marketing agreements, as appears the case, violates of the CBA, which permits each WNBA team to spend a maximum of $150,000 annually on team marketing and promotional agreements.
Megdal engages with several other questions about the nature of the LVCVA-Aces deal in his reporting, while also estimating how successful the investigation may, or may not, be in securing the records necessary to come to a clear conclusion. Dig into his details here.
Julia Koch purchases minority stake in Liberty
Julia Koch and her children are purchasing a minority stake in BSE Global, the conglomerate that owns the New York Liberty, as well as the Brooklyn Nets and Barclays Center.
The wife of the late David Koch, one of the infamous Koch brothers known for funding libertarian candidates and causes, Julia Koch is the 23rd-richest person in the world, with a net worth of $65.7 billion. Joe Tsai and Clara Wu Tsai will remain the controlling owners of the Liberty.
New York billionaire Julia Koch and her children are purchasing a minority stake in BSE Global, which owns the Brooklyn Nets of the NBA, the New York Liberty of the WNBA and Barclays Center in Brooklyn. https://t.co/tgJ2nw5GKb
— ESPN Women's Hoops (@ESPN_WomenHoop) June 19, 2024
A’ja leads All-Star voting
On Friday, the WNBA released the first round of All-Star voting returns, and A’One is No. 1.
The Las Vegas Aces’ A’ja Wilson, who leads the league is scoring and rebounding, is the top vote-getter, with 217,773 votes. The Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark follows in second with 216,427 votes. Clark’s teammate Aliyah Boston, the New York Liberty’s Breanna Stewart and the Dallas Wings’ Arike Ogunbowale round out the top five.
— WNBA (@WNBA) June 21, 2024First returns are in! Make sure to vote daily for your favorite players ⬇️
How about a few players who are putting together All-Star-worthy seasons and deserve a bit more love? Check out the All-Star cases for the Seattle Storm’s Nneka Ogwumike (No. 13; 89,023), the Connecticut Sun’s DiJonai Carrington (No. 24; 50,338) and the Minnesota Lynx’s Kayla McBride (No. 30; 32,449).
Keep casting ballots for your faves through June 29. Rosters will be announced on July 2.
