Everything we know about the WNBA's investigation into the Aces' $100K player sponsorships

The WNBA's investigation into the Las Vegas Aces is still ongoing. As more details are revealed, the story about how this all happened is becoming murky.

In May, the Aces received financial gifts from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA). The $100,000 payment presented to each player sent shockwaves through hoops circles, prompting the WNBA to launch an investigation quickly.

There are still many lingering questions about how these payments will work, including whether the payments will actually happen.

Here's everything we know about the $100,000 payments surrounding the Las Vegas Aces:

The LVCVA announced they were sponsoring all 12 players on the Las Vegas Aces roster

On May 17, Steve Hill, the president of the LVCVA, announced that the organization was gifting each Aces player with a $100,000 sponsorship. Here's what Hill said in a video posted to X (formerly Twitter):

"The offer is really simple: We want you to just play, keep repping Las Vegas and if you get a three-peat, that would be icing on the cake.”

The WNBA launched an investigation into the Aces $100k payments a day later

According to Howard Megdal of The Next, on May 18, the WNBA opened an investigation into the LVCVA's new sponsorship payments.

Many people in league circles wondered if the payments could be a violation of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).

Per Callie Lawson-Freeman of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the CBA does not allow teams or affiliates to enter into any agreement where the “sponsor, business partner or third party pays or agrees to pay financial compensation for basketball services (even if the compensation is designated for nonbasketball services) to a player under contract with a team.

But the Aces claimed everything was fine

Our Mitchell Northam pointed out that the agreement could have major salary cap implications as well. However, the Aces maintained that everything was up to regulation. Here's what Becky Hammon told the media when asked about it:

"I'm gonna put it to you real simple like this. Most of sponsoship people go after the top two people...In this situation, from what I understand is they wanted the whole team. So, they went and called individuals ― agents."

"I don't know the details. I have nothing to do with it. The Aces don't have anything to do it. It's just odd, but that's basically what happened."

Las Vegas Aces owner Mark Davis chided the WNBA over how they handled the unprecented move

Owner Mark Davis was not very pleased with the WNBA's actions and felt that the word "investigation" was too strong for what they were doing.

Per CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones, this is some of what Davis shared with him about the situation:

“When you say ‘investigation,’ other organizations that are in our community might say, ‘Hey, we may want to sit back and wait. Maybe this is illegal’ or this or that,” Davis said. “And I think that’s the wrong approach.

“Again, the word investigation is not good. It should have been, ‘This is great. Let’s see more of these come forward and do this.'”

However, the WNBA remained curious about a few things

Per Megdal, the WNBA hired an outside law firm to conduct its investigation further. The move is a significant shift in the league's investigation. According to Megdal, these are the things that the WNBA might want to know more about:

The WNBA's investigation has started and some details that were fuzzy are now a bit clearer

Per Callie Lawson-Freeman of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, these are some of the new details surrounding the investigation:

How the Aces' sponsoships were built is rather interesting

Here's more from Callie Lawson-Freeman on the reported construction of the sponsorships:

An uncovered email suggests the Aces weren't totally in the dark

Details have emerged in a recent publication of Megdal's Title IX newsletter that shows some potential holes in the story:

This article originally appeared on For The Win: Everything we know about the WNBA's investigation into the Aces' $100K player sponsorships