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By Cassandra Cousineau of LVSportsBiz.com
Well it’s been a while.
You must return to the pre-COVID pandemic by September 24, 2019 to find fans who were not Las Vegas Aces season ticket holders to attend an Aces home game.
But they returned Thursday night when an announced attendance of 5,150 watched the Aces beat the Chicago Sky at 90:83.
It was the first game in 709 days where any non-2,000 season ticket holder could buy a ticket to an Aces game at the Mandalay Bay arena on the Strip.
It was a wild night of basketball in Las Vegas for the team’s all-important win as the Aces regular season comes to an end. Las Vegas played without its all-star center Liz Cambage, who is out with COVID-19, and two-time WNBA Sixth Woman of the Year Dearica Hamby. “We know we are understaffed. So we have to concentrate and really concentrate, ”said Aces coach Bill Laimbeer.
Ace trainer Bill Laimbeer
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Fans at the Michelob Ultra Arena still wore masks to fulfill the district’s masking mandate indoors, but they have been closer to the action on the pitch than ever since the Aces bid farewell to the championship series against the Washington Mystics in 2019.
Coronavirus-related restrictions have limited the number of fans who can watch Aces’ home games and where they can sit. When the season opened during the fog of the coronavirus, fans were arranged in socially distant groups of two to four people sitting together. Nobody was allowed to sit on the field – not even Aces team owner Mark Davis, who was back in front and in the middle on Thursday night.
Mark Davis, the owner of Aces, on Thursday night. Photo: Cassandra Cousineau
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It’s an important time for the WNBA. In its 25th season, the WNBA is fighting for ticket buyers dollars, even as viewership increases. The 12 teams in the league often struggled with attendance numbers, attendance numbers and consequently also with revenue.
The good news is that ESPN announced earlier this season that its ratings were up 45 percent compared to 2019 and up 74 percent compared to ratings during the 2020 coronavirus-hit season. The WNBA has an average of 357,000 viewers on the ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 platforms, an increase of 74 percent. What’s even more remarkable is that the season opener also saw a 25 percent increase in audience ratings compared to the previous season, as well as two of the top three viewership figures in the past nine years.
The arena fan experience is still affected by the ongoing pandemic. As of July 30th, all fans in Clark County, where the Aces are playing, will have to wear a mask again, regardless of whether they are vaccinated or not. According to team officials, by default the WNBA uses the strictest rule regarding masks – the league or county in which the team plays.
Crowd matters to the aces as they try to collect the top playoff seed. With only two home games left until the playoffs, Laimbeer doesn’t need any pin board material. It’s all about winning. “We are a professional basketball team. Everyone just has to do their job. If we do that, we’ll be fine, we’ll get our fair chance to win games. If we don’t focus and focus on our tasks, we’ll lose some basketball games that we could have won. It’s that simple, ”said the sincere coach
Led by A’ja Wilson, Riquna Williams and Kelsey Plum, who each had 21 points, the Aces took care of business against the sky on Thursday. Wilson also had 10 rebounds while Plum ended up with five steals. Kia Stokes stubbornly took care of the glass with 13 rebounds and filled Cambage well.
Williams noticed the energy in the building. “I’m having fun. It’s been a while since I’ve been able to do this.”
A’ja Wilson
Cambage put the 2020 bubble season on hold at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. At the time, her agent stated that pre-existing health would put her at a “high risk of serious illness” if she were to contract the COVID virus. “She is fully vaccinated, has mild symptoms and will continue to isolate herself until she is released back to play according to the protocols,” said a statement from the club. The WNBA has one of the highest vaccination rates in all of professional sport, with the league reporting 99 percent of its list as fully vaccinated as of June.
The two home games of the Aces are on September 8th against the Minnesota Lynx and on September 13th at 12 noon against the Dallas Wings. The game on September 13 starts at 12 noon so fans can avoid traffic jams when the Raiders open their season against the Baltimore Ravens at 5:15 pm at Monday Night Football at nearby Allegiant Stadium. The Aces have won seven of the last ten games and are at the top of the Western Conference.
