The WNBA and the Las Vegas Aces have not responded publicly to an offer by OutKick founder Clay Travis to pay the team $10 million if it beats a state-champion high school boys basketball team. The challenge was posted during a heated debate over male athletes in women's sports, and Travis says high school boys teams across the country have already expressed interest in taking part.
Travis made the offer in a post aimed at the Aces, describing them as the WNBA's championship-winning franchise. In an update Tuesday, he wrote: «High school boys teams across the country are reaching out wanting to play the WNBA champ Las Vegas Aces. But the Aces are silent. Tells you everything. They know they would get smoked.» He has described the offer as a way to educate coaches whom he accuses of ignoring the physical advantages men have over women.
More than 24 hours after the original challenge, neither the league nor the Aces had responded. OutKick said it contacted both the WNBA and the Aces organization for comment and received nothing but silence as of the time of publication.
The money at stake is significant. The Aces were estimated to generate about $33 million in annual revenue, and Forbes valued the franchise at roughly $300 million in 2025, making the proposed $10 million prize equal to about 3.3 percent of the team's valuation.
The challenge grew out of a dispute involving Phoenix Mercury guard Sophie Cunningham, who said male athletes should not compete in women's sports. Her remarks, which Travis and his outlet say echo a position shared by 80 to 90 percent of the American public, set off a firestorm inside the WNBA. Players, coaches and fans criticized Cunningham. She was booed when she touched the ball, and some opponents wore pointed clothing in response. One WNBA co-owner was suspended after confronting a young Cunningham supporter.
Travis has also pressed the league to clarify its eligibility rules. He asked why the WNBA would not simply issue a statement saying only players born as women are eligible to compete. He pointed out that the Olympics and women's tennis have already made similar declarations, and he noted that Caitlin Clark had asked the league to make such a statement.
In Travis's view, the lack of a response to his challenge speaks for itself. He has argued that declining a chance to settle the argument on the court suggests the league knows how a game against an elite high school boys team would end. He has also said the silence is inconsistent, writing that coaches seem willing to defend the idea of men playing in the WNBA while the Aces avoid a game against a boys high school team.
The dispute has become the latest flashpoint in a broader conversation about competitive fairness in women's sports. Travis has said the offer is not meant to question the skill of WNBA players, whom he has described as extremely talented athletes in their own right. Instead, he has framed the issue as a basic acknowledgment of the physical differences between men and women.
He added that losing to an elite high school boys team would not be embarrassing, but the league's silence is. «Losing to an elite high school boy's basketball team wouldn't be embarrassing,» Travis wrote. «But their complete and utter silence sure is.»
The WNBA has not commented on the challenge, and it remains unclear whether the league or the Aces will respond in the coming days.
