WNBA to interview Las Vegas tourism leader Tuesday regarding sponsorship offer to Aces players

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WNBA to interview Las Vegas tourism leader Tuesday regarding sponsorship offer to Aces players

2024-06-18 08:16 Last Updated At：08:20

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Las Vegas tourism chief Steve Hill 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.

Hill announced to the players on May 18 they would each receive a $100,000 sponsorship each of the next two years from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. The WNBA hired a law firm, Kobre & Kim, to investigate whether the league's salary-cap rules were circumvented. Founding partner Steven Kobre heads the investigation.

The sponsorship money is more than the average annual value of five Aces players contracts, according to Spotrac.

Hill, CEO and President of the LVCVA, said Monday the authority did everything according to the WNBA's policies, including working independently of the Aces to arrange the sponsorship agreements. He said “a handful of” contract drafts sent to player agents have been signed.

“We made a commitment to the players and we’re going to follow through on that,” Hill said. “We have not done anything wrong. (The players) have every right to sign a sponsorship agreement. This is a legitimate sponsorship agreement. ... We've taped all the players and broadcast their image, so we owe them for that. That's the first deliverable in the deal, so we are moving forward."

He said the authority did alert the team it planned to offer sponsorships to the players, but did not divulge the details.

Before moving forward, Hill said the Aces informed the LVCVA that it would have to sponsor the team first in order to receive the rights to use the club logo and other properties in any promotional materials. The LVCVA has similar agreements with the NFL's Raiders and NHL's Golden Knights, Hill said.

Also, the authority asked the Aces permission to gain access to the locker room to tell the players the news, but that no details were provided other than a sponsorship proposal would be offered. The Aces have said they had no knowledge of the specifics.

Hill said he wasn't aware of any rules barring the LVCVA from working with the two-time defending champion Aces to set up the announcement that was videotaped and promoted by the authority.

“That's just a logistics thing," Hill said.

Hill said under terms that each player receives $25,000 a month, and players who are released or added to the roster would receive money on a prorated basis. Each sponsorship agreement includes four components — the video from the locker room as a promotional tool, a team photo, public appearances and uses of name, image and likeness.

“We're in the process of working through that with each of the agents,” Hill said.

This isn't the first time the WNBA has investigated the Aces.

Last year, the WNBA suspended coach Becky Hammon for two games and took away the Aces’ 2025 first-round draft pick because it determined the franchise violated league rules regarding impermissible player benefits and workplace policies.

Hill said he didn't know where the WNBA's investigation stood into the sponsorships matter.

“We think this is a very positive step for the team, the league,” Hill said. “We hope we're raising the bar. We hope that we are maybe opening some minds to the value that has been kind of locked up that we're trying to unlock with all these players.

“I get completely and understand the need for the league to ask questions. Really the only thing I think the league has said is that they are opening an investigation, which has kind of an ominous tone to the word. I don't know that they mean it that way or not. I hope not. I think after they investigate, they're going to say, ‘You know, completely following the rules here and wow, this could be a good thing.’ So, hopefully, they embrace it.”

AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball

What to know about the severe storms and flash flooding hitting parts of the US

2025-04-05 06:13 Last Updated At：06:21

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Parts of the South and Midwest, still reeling from violent storms, tornadoes and flooding that have killed at least eight people this week, faced an ongoing threat of catastrophic flooding Friday that forecasters said would stretch into the weekend.

Severe thunderstorms threatened a swath of the country with a population of 2.3 million people from northeast Texas through Arkansas and into southeast Missouri.

In Kentucky, continued storms inundated roads and a mudslide blocked a busy highway on the outskirts of Louisville. A 9-year-old boy was killed, swept away as he walked to a school bus stop.

The downtown area of Hopkinsville, Kentucky — a city of 31,000 residents 72 miles (116 kilometers) northwest of Nashville, Tennessee — was submerged.

The first wave of storms killed at least five people in Tennessee and one each in Missouri and Indiana on Wednesday and Thursday.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee called the devastation in his state “enormous” and said it was too early to know whether there were more deaths as searches continued.

There was massive destruction in Lake City in eastern Arkansas, where homes were flattened and cars were flipped and tossed into trees.

At least 318 tornado warnings have been issued by the National Weather Service since this week's tornado outbreak began early Wednesday, and that was likely to grow. It has already eclipsed the 300 tornado warnings issued during last month’s deadly outbreak in Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri and other states.

Not all tornado warnings involve an actual tornado, and it was too early to know how many were actually produced by the current outbreak.

The severe weather hit at a time when nearly half the National Weather Service's forecast offices have 20% vacancy rates — twice that of a decade ago — according to data obtained by The Associated Press.

Forecasters attributed the violent weather to warm temperatures, an unstable atmosphere, strong wind shear and abundant moisture streaming from the Gulf.

The prolonged deluge, which could dump more than a foot (30 centimeters) of rain over a four-day period, “is an event that happens once in a generation to once in a lifetime,” the National Weather Service said.

Private forecasting company AccuWeather said northeastern Arkansas, southeastern Missouri, southern Illinois, western Kentucky and northwestern Tennessee needed to prepare for a catastrophic risk from flash flooding.

“This is a rare and dangerous atmospheric setup,” said Jonathan Porter, AccuWeather chief meteorologist.

Forecasters have also warned of major disruptions to shipping and supply chains. Shipping giant FedEx, for example, has a massive facility in the danger area, in Memphis Tennessee. Barge transportation on the lower Mississippi River could also be affected.

Water rescue teams and sandbags were being set up across the region in anticipation of flooding, and authorities warned people to take the threat of rising water seriously.

“We need everyone to understand that all water poses risk right now and to take every precaution," Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said.

Associated Press writers George Walker IV in Selmer, Tennessee; John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio; Jeff Martin in Atlanta; Adrian Sainz in Memphis, Tennessee; Jonathan Mattise in Nashville, Tennessee, Seth Borenstein in Washington; and Bruce Schreiner in Shelbyville, Kentucky, contributed.