Wings need an arena & American Airlines Center needs tenants, but it won’t work
Of the many stadium/arena projects that have existed in North Texas in the last 40 years, none compares to the eight-part miniseries “suspense thriller” that is the creation of the new home of the Dallas Wings, which is still not done, nor has it even started.
As much excitement as the arrival of Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd has created for this WNBA franchise, there is just as much seething frustration within the organization at the city of Dallas over an agreement that was announced with great fanfare, only for nothing to happen.
The Wings open their home schedule on Tuesday night against the Atlanta Dream at the College Park Center on the campus of Texas-Arlington, and it’s clear the franchise has outgrown that nice arena, which features a seating capacity of 6,251.
The Wings still need a new home, and it will not be the American Airlines Center, even if that looks like it could fit.
The Wings’ inability to actually move to Dallas
Beginning in the finals months of 2022, the Wings and the city of Dallas began negotiations to build. The franchise, which originally started in Detroit in 1998, moved to Tulsa in 2010, relocated to Arlington in 2016, would call Dallas its long-term home by 2027.
Yeah. About that ...
In April 2024, the city of Dallas and the Wings announced plans to build a practice facility in west Dallas in time for the 2026 season. Also announced was that the Wings would move from Arlington to play in the newly refurbished Dallas Memorial Auditorium in the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center that is part of a $2 billion project.
At the time of the announcement, the city said, “The potential 15-year use agreement for Memorial Auditorium, with an optional 15-year extension, would take effect after the 2025 season, pending approval by the WNBA.”
It’s May 2026 and not much, other than Dallas city politics, has happened.
The practice facility site is selected. The Wings took over the construction project from the city, and the team hopes/plans to have the first shove-in-the-dirt on Friday.
“I think we’re there. A couple other things that have to happen, but by Friday is the goal,” Dallas Wings president Greg Bibb said. “That would put us on a construction timeline that, with some good luck and some extra money to expedite the process, to be complete, and practicing in that building when training camp opens next April.”
As the WNBA grows, players have placed a premium on franchises having their own practice facility. This offseason, after a new collective bargaining agreement between the WNBA and players association was announced and brought more money into the league, free agents prioritized teams that have their own homes, not ones that are shared.
“It gives you your own space. To be able to go in and work out whenever you want as a professional it gives you the resources that you need,” Wings veteran Alysha Clark said. “That was something that in the past that was overlooked. For those of us who have been around a long time, we never really had our own locker room.
“To be in a space where you feel settled, where it feels like home, and you can come in and work whenever you want to work is crucial. As the league continues to grow, having your own practice facility is huge.”
As far as the Wings moving into the Dallas Memorial Auditorium and the convention center ...
The Wings will now play next season at the American Airlines Center, but that is not a long-term solution.
“As of today, our agreement calls for us to play at a renovated Dallas Memorial Auditorium for the ‘28 season, and the next 15 years thereafter, as part of our use and incentive agreement that we signed up for,” Bibb said. “Until someone notifies me otherwise, I expect to be in that building for 2028.”
According to the city, “demolition is underway.”
No mention of construction.
American Airlines Center is not a long-term fit for the Dallas Wings
Both the Dallas Stars and Dallas Mavericks have announced their intention to honor their respective leases with the AAC through the end of their 2030-31 seasons. After that, the Mavericks expect to be in a new building. The Stars are likely gone as well.
The AAC will be an empty building looking for a tenant. The Wings “could” move in and call it home.
Even though the Wings will play three games at the AAC this season, and all of their home games there in 2027, these are temporary.
With a capacity for a basketball game at 19,200, it’s too big for the Wings. The Wings need to play in a facility that’s closer to 10,000.
Seating capacity for the new Dallas Memorial Auditorium is in the area of 8,500. Ish.
The Wings need a new place sooner rather than later, and the Mavs and Stars won’t be leaving until at least 2031.
The Wings would be the fourth tenant in that building, behind the Mavs, Stars and concerts. The scheduling conflicts would be so many that the Wings would be left to pick from a handful of bad dates, especially in the spring when the Mavs and Stars would have potential playoff games.
Also, the Wings do not want the AAC. They want their own building where they are the priority, and the cost and revenue structure are designed for them.
They want the building they were promised when they announced it with the city of Dallas in 2024.
This story was originally published May 12, 2026 at 5:00 AM.
