The Las Vegas Aces are owned by Mark Davis, the same man who owns the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders. He purchased the WNBA team from MGM Resorts International in 2021. Super Bowl champion Tom Brady joined the ownership group as a minority partner in 2023.
Ask any Las Vegas sports fan who owns the Aces and you will usually hear “the Raiders guy,” and they are right. Mark Davis, the silver-haired billionaire who moved the Raiders to the desert, also controls the WNBA’s back-to-back-to-back champions. But the full story runs deeper than one owner: a franchise that started in Utah, a reported bargain-basement purchase price, a quiet stake sold to Tom Brady, and a team now valued near the top of its league. Here is exactly who owns the Las Vegas Aces, how they got here, and what the franchise is worth today.
- Majority owner: Mark Davis, owner of the Las Vegas Raiders, who bought the Aces from MGM Resorts International in 2021.
- Minority owner: Tom Brady, who acquired a stake announced in March 2023.
- Reported price: about $2 million, though official terms were never disclosed.
- Team value: an estimated $140 million (Sportico, 2024), the most valuable franchise in the WNBA.
- On the court: three WNBA championships (2022, 2023, 2025) led by A’ja Wilson and head coach Becky Hammon.
What’s in This Guide
- Who Owns the Las Vegas Aces Today
- Who Is Mark Davis
- How Mark Davis Bought the Aces
- Tom Brady’s Minority Stake
- Aces Ownership vs. Raiders Ownership
- How Much Are the Las Vegas Aces Worth
- From Utah Starzz to Las Vegas Aces
- Championships and the People Behind Them
- Where the Aces Play and How to Get There
- Frequently Asked Questions
Who Owns the Las Vegas Aces Today
The Las Vegas Aces are majority-owned by Mark Davis, the principal owner of the Las Vegas Raiders. Davis took control of the franchise in 2021 and remains the controlling voice in every major decision, from arena to roster investment. He is not a silent check-writer. Davis is a regular, visible presence courtside at Michelob Ultra Arena, often with his signature bowl haircut catching the broadcast cameras.
He is not the only name on the ownership ledger. In 2023, legendary quarterback Tom Brady acquired a minority stake in the team, making him a part-owner alongside Davis. Brady does not run the franchise; his is a passive ownership interest, but it added star wattage and national attention to a team that was already on the rise.
The Raiders do not own the Aces. A common mix-up is that the Raiders organization, as a company, owns the WNBA team. That is not how it works. One person, Mark Davis, owns both teams. The Raiders and the Aces are legally separate franchises in separate leagues with separate staffs, budgets, and schedules. They share an owner and a city, not a balance sheet.
Who Is Mark Davis
Mark Davis is the son of the late Al Davis, the famously combative owner who built the Raiders into one of pro football’s most recognizable brands. Mark inherited control of the Raiders after his father’s death in 2011 and later spearheaded the team’s relocation from Oakland to Las Vegas, where Allegiant Stadium opened in 2020.
That move made Davis one of the most important figures in the city’s sports economy almost overnight. Buying the Aces a year later doubled down on that bet. For Davis, owning Las Vegas’s NFL team and its reigning WNBA champion is a matched set: two professional franchises anchoring a city that, a decade ago, had none of the major leagues at all.
How Mark Davis Bought the Aces
Before Davis, the Aces were owned by MGM Resorts International, the casino giant that brought the WNBA to Las Vegas in the first place. MGM relocated the franchise to the city for the 2018 season and named it the Aces. By early 2021, MGM was ready to sell.
Davis agreed to purchase the team on January 14, 2021. The WNBA and NBA Board of Governors voted unanimously to approve the sale on February 12, 2021. WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert welcomed him to the league, and Davis publicly thanked MGM leaders Jim Murren and Bill Hornbuckle for “building the Aces into a first-class organization in such a short period of time.”
The one detail that still fascinates fans is the price. Official terms were never disclosed, but multiple outlets have reported the figure at roughly $2 million. For context on how much the ground has shifted under women’s basketball since then, see the valuation below. If that reported number is accurate, it is one of the best bargains in modern pro sports ownership.
From a Las Vegas standpoint, the Davis purchase matters beyond basketball. A single owner tying the Raiders and the Aces to the same city gives Las Vegas a stable, local-minded sports anchor rather than an absentee investor flipping a franchise. For a city that only recently became a major-league sports town, continuity of ownership is part of what keeps big events, and the crowds that travel for them, coming back.
Tom Brady’s Minority Stake
On March 23, 2023, Mark Davis announced that Tom Brady had acquired a minority stake in the Aces. The deal required WNBA approval. Neither the percentage nor the purchase price was disclosed.
Brady framed it as a personal passion, not just an investment. “I have always been a huge fan of women’s sports,” he said, pointing back to his childhood watching his older sisters play. Reporting at the time noted his interest grew after he attended an Aces game against the Connecticut Sun the previous May. Davis called the partnership “a win not only for the Aces, and the WNBA.” The stake is passive: Brady is an owner and an ambassador, not a decision-maker.
Aces Ownership vs. Raiders Ownership
Because one man owns both teams, fans constantly blur the line between them. Here is how the two franchises actually compare under Mark Davis.
| Las Vegas Aces | Las Vegas Raiders | |
|---|---|---|
| League | WNBA | NFL |
| Majority owner | Mark Davis | Mark Davis |
| Minority owner of note | Tom Brady (2023) | Multiple limited partners |
| Home venue | Michelob Ultra Arena | Allegiant Stadium |
| Acquired / arrived | Bought in 2021 | Relocated for 2020 season |
| Separate front office? | Yes | Yes |
The takeaway: shared owner, shared city, and a shared “Raider Nation meets Aces” fan crossover, but two completely independent businesses. When you see Davis courtside at an Aces game, he is wearing his Aces owner hat, not his Raiders one.
Source: WNBA.com
How Much Are the Las Vegas Aces Worth
If the reported $2 million purchase price raised eyebrows, the current valuation explains why. Sportico estimated the Aces were worth $140 million for the 2024 season, the highest valuation in the WNBA, against a league average of roughly $96 million.
Aces Valuation vs. WNBA Average (Sportico, 2024)
The team’s business numbers back up the valuation. The Aces reported a league-high $17.8 million in revenue, and in 2024 they became the first WNBA team to sell out their entire season-ticket allotment, moving all 8,600 packages.
Women’s basketball valuations have since surged league-wide. By mid-2025, Sportico reported the expansion Golden State Valkyries topping the league around $500 million, with all WNBA franchises collectively valued near $3.5 billion. In other words, whatever Davis paid, the asset has appreciated dramatically.
Source: Sports Illustrated (Sportico data)
From Utah Starzz to Las Vegas Aces
The franchise now flying three championship banners in Las Vegas has one of the longest, most-traveled histories in the WNBA. It is one of the league’s original teams, and it has called three states home.
- Utah Starzz (1997 to 2002): One of the eight founding WNBA franchises, based in Salt Lake City and playing at the Delta Center.
- San Antonio Silver Stars / Stars (2003 to 2017): After a sale tied to the ownership of the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs, the team moved to Texas, playing at the AT&T Center. It reached the WNBA Finals in 2008.
- Las Vegas Aces (2018 to present): MGM Resorts relocated the franchise to Paradise, Nevada, and rebranded it the Aces for the 2018 season.
So while the Aces feel like a brand-new Las Vegas success story, the franchise itself has been in the WNBA since day one. The championships came only after the move west, but the roots stretch back to the league’s founding.
Championships and the People Behind Them
Ownership gets the headlines, but the on-court dynasty is what made the Aces a national brand. The team has won three WNBA titles under Davis’s ownership.
- 2022: The Aces beat the Connecticut Sun to capture the franchise’s first WNBA title, in head coach Becky Hammon’s first season.
- 2023: They defeated the New York Liberty to become the first team in 21 years to win back-to-back championships.
- 2025: A sweep of the Phoenix Mercury gave the Aces a third title in four years, making them the second franchise ever to do so, after the Houston Comets.
Two names anchor the dynasty. A’ja Wilson, the number-one overall pick in 2018, is a multiple-time WNBA MVP and the face of the franchise. Becky Hammon, hired at the end of 2021, won a title in her first season as a head coach and has guided the team to all three championships. Davis’s investment in the roster and front office is a big reason those banners exist.
Source: Sports Illustrated
Where the Aces Play and How to Get There
The Aces play their home games at Michelob Ultra Arena, inside Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino on the south end of the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The team’s business operations are headquartered in Henderson. The arena seats a WNBA crowd comfortably and sits steps from Mandalay Bay’s restaurants and casino floor, which makes a game night an easy full evening out.
Game nights at Mandalay Bay mean heavy Strip traffic, pricey event parking, and a long walk from the garage to the arena, especially if you are coming as a group. A private car or group vehicle drops you at the door and is waiting when the final buzzer sounds, so no one is hunting for a parked car or waiting in a rideshare surge line after the game.
If you are heading to an Aces game from a hotel, the airport, or somewhere off the Strip, our Las Vegas event transportation handles door-to-door pickup and return without the surge pricing or the parking hassle. For a group of friends or a corporate outing, our group transportation keeps everyone together in one vehicle.
Book Las Vegas event transportation
Reserve group transportation for a game
We provide professional chauffeured car service across the Las Vegas valley, so wherever you are staying, getting to and from Michelob Ultra Arena is handled.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who owns the Las Vegas Aces?
Do the Las Vegas Raiders own the Las Vegas Aces?
How much did Mark Davis pay for the Aces?
How much are the Las Vegas Aces worth?
Where do the Las Vegas Aces play?
Related Las Vegas Guides
- Where the Raiders played before Las Vegas: the backstory on Mark Davis’s other team and its move to the desert.
- Who owns Resorts World Las Vegas: the ownership story behind one of the Strip’s newest megaresorts.
- Who owns the Venetian Las Vegas: who controls one of the Strip’s landmark casino resorts today.
Sources
- WNBA.com, “WNBA Approves Sale of the Las Vegas Aces to Mark Davis” (Feb 12, 2021)
- Front Office Sports, “Tom Brady Acquires Minority Stake in Las Vegas Aces” (Mar 23, 2023)
- Sports Illustrated, WNBA franchise valuations (Sportico data, 2024)
- Sports Illustrated, “Aces Championship History: Full List of WNBA Titles”
- Franchise history, arena, and relocation timeline (Las Vegas Aces overview)
