LAS VEGAS — Notes from around the WNBA All-Star Game in Las Vegas:
No Vegas in ’24
Las Vegas will not host the WNBA All-Star Game in 2024. However, Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said the city will certainly be in contention going forward.
“It’s a great market to be in,” Engelbert said. “Our players love coming here. We, at the league, love coming here. So I’m sure Vegas will be in our future plans.”
Engelbert announced that the Phoenix Mercury will host next season’s All-Star Game during her state of the league address Saturday at Michelob Ultra Arena.
Las Vegas and the Aces have hosted three of the past four All-Star Games.
The commissioner heaped praise on the Aces and the city of Las Vegas for their work in hosting the event this season. Engelbert said there were fewer challenges this year than in 2019, the first time the city welcomed the All-Star Game. That event took place just 10 days into her tenure as commissioner.
Engelbert said she felt the league’s fanfest, WNBA Live, had a successful two-day stint at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center. The league’s commercial partners told Engelbert they had good brand activation, and fans enjoyed having access to some of the league’s best players at meet-and-greet events, she said.
Engelbert also said she was excited for the league to return to Las Vegas for the 2023 Commissioner’s Cup championship game Aug. 15 between the Aces and the New York Liberty.
“It’s been such a great market to hold an All-Star Game,” Engelbert said.
‘Ball was dropped’
However, All-Star weekend hasn’t been a hit with everyone. When asked to describe her weekend with one word, Connecticut Sun and Team Stewart coach Stephanie White chose “busy.”
Similarly, Los Angeles Sparks All-Star forward Nneka Ogwumike said this year’s All-Star Game has felt inconvenient. The eight-time All-Star, who also serves as the WNBA Players Association president, said the logistics have been extremely difficult for the All-Stars to navigate.
“If this is something that has to happen, what can we do to optimize this and make it feel like an All-Star experience?” Ogwumike said Friday. “I personally think the ball was dropped on that this year, when it comes to making it convenient for the players.”
Ogwumike also raised questions about the length of the All-Star break, or lack thereof, in the schedule. Most teams played Tuesday before traveling to Las Vegas for Friday’s All-Star practice. The league resumes play Tuesday.
These concerns will only be elevated going forward, wherever the event is held. The league’s 40-game season is going to be condensed into an even shorter window in 2024, which will have a break for the Paris Olympics.
Engelbert admitted next season’s All-Star weekend will be a challenge from a scheduling perspective.
For Ogwumike and other players who have commented on the busy schedules and logistics surrounding All-Star weekend, the goal is to make sure progress continues moving forward regardless of location. She also said she and the players won’t pretend to be appreciative of things that need to be fixed.
“I want to see it better, every year, each year for all these players who truly deserve it,” Ogwumike said. “For all the media who come in and cover us, for all the people in the league who work their asses off to make sure this weekend is what it can be, and then all of us working together for it to be good so we can be grateful and we can be valued.”
