For more than two years, the Las Vegas Aces have been under investigation over allegations of salary cap circumvention ever since the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) paid their players $100,000 annually for two seasons (2024 & ’25). But on Saturday, WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert finally shared a major update on the ongoing investigation.
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The league will end its probe into whether the Aces violated league salary cap rules after finding “insufficient evidence”.
“We’ve been conducting an independent investigation by outside counsel,” the commissioner said during her annual WNBA All-Star press conference in Chicago. “So, we have wrapped that up for now. WNBA has determined that there is insufficient evidence at this time to establish the salary cap circumvention violation, and no discipline will be recommended or imposed.”
“Of course, if new or additional evidence comes to light, we’ll continue to investigate. But the integrity of our game is No. 1,” Engelbert added.
Under the collective bargaining agreement in place at that time, the WNBA prohibited teams from arranging third-party deals for their players that could be used to circumvent salary rules. Since the LVCVA payments came from an outside organization, they quickly drew scrutiny from around the league and ultimately prompted an independent investigation. And though the league’s probe came to an end, this wasn’t the first time Las Vegas had found itself under league scrutiny
In 2023, the WNBA also investigated allegations that the organization promised impermissible benefits to players during free agency. And that led to the Aces losing a 2025 first-round draft pick. Also, head coach Becky Hammon served a two-game suspension over the league’s handling of Dearica Hamby’s pregnancy. However, the salary cap allegations themselves were never substantiated.
As for the latest investigation, Aces owner Mark Davis and Hammon consistently denied the team had any involvement in arranging “under-the-table payments to players.” And the LVCVA dropped the payments this year, as Steve Hill, who runs the authority, said it was meant as a bridge for players until the next labor deal – which was signed in March this year.
So for now, one of the WNBA’s longest-running off-court investigations has officially come to an end, which would allow the Aces to move forward without any discipline. However, Cathy Engelbert has made it clear that the door hasn’t been completely closed. In case new evidence comes to light, the league would reopen the matter.