An undercard could change who got noticed
At the MGM Grand in March 1996, Christy Martin and Deirdre Gogarty fought on the Tyson–Bruno undercard. Their six-round bout helped bring women’s boxing to a much larger audience, and Martin subsequently appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Gogarty’s Hall of Fame profile recalls the fight while also tracing a career that continued beyond that famous night.
A title brought home from Connecticut
On September 18, 2022, the Las Vegas Aces won their first WNBA championship by beating the Sun 78–71 in Game 4. Chelsea Gray was Finals MVP. The clincher was played in Connecticut, a useful distinction for a city sports calendar: the achievement belonged to a Las Vegas team even when the decisive action happened elsewhere.
The names behind the result
SI’s championship analysis gives the team more dimension than a scoreline. Becky Hammon, A’ja Wilson and Gray were central to its account of how the Aces won. The coverage shows the value of following women’s teams through their players and decisions, with the same attention to sporting substance given to the city’s other leading franchises.
Two kinds of visibility
These are different sports, institutions and eras. Together they suggest a useful way to read the archive: ask who had access to a prominent stage, whose performance gained attention and whose contribution might disappear behind a more famous name. Las Vegas sports history becomes richer when those questions extend beyond the main event.
ArenaLV perspective