Playing in the third city of the franchise’s 26-year history, the Dallas Wings had found a home. Or so we thought.
The Dallas Wings were one of the last WNBA franchises to relocate, moving from Tulsa to the Dallas-Fort Worth area for the 2016 season. Two years later, the Dallas Wings became the Lone Star State’s lone WNBA team after the San Antonio Stars left town to become the Las Vegas Aces.
However now, the Dallas Wings are looking to move again. But this time, the team is looking to cement its presence in the community via that move. The team is looking to relocate to downtown Dallas from its current home in Arlington, Tex.
Dallas Wings Seek Move to Downtown Dallas
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The Dallas Wings have played at the College Park Center at the University of Texas at Arlington since moving from Tulsa after the 2015 season. While Arlington is part of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex and home to the Texas Rangers of MLB, it is approximately 25-30 minutes from the heart of “Big D” itself.
Now, the Dallas City Council is expected to vote this week on a proposal that would take the team out of Arlington and place them in the Dallas Memorial Auditorium. The new home is part of the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in downtown Dallas.
Dallas City Councilperson Jaime Resendez told NBC 5 in Dallas:
“Having a WNBA franchise in downtown Dallas would promote gender equality in sports by providing a prominent platform for female athletes to showcase their talent and athleticism.”
The Dallas Memorial Auditorium dates back to the late 1950s and has a seating capacity of approximately 10,000. However, the auditorium has a planned renovation scheduled to be completed by 2026. The renovation is part of a larger redevelopment plan that also includes the construction of a new convention center.
The proposal to be voted on by the Dallas City Council calls for the city to offer $19 million in incentives to a “current professional sports franchise” to make a renovated auditorium its home stadium while not naming the Dallas Wings by name. A proposed lease agreement would allow said franchise to operate the arena from April 15 to November 1, a timeframe that easily accommodates the WNBA schedule.
Dallas Wings Near Bottom of WNBA Attendance in 2023
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While the move to the heart of Texas has brought stability to the Dallas Wings franchise, it is hoped that a move to downtown Dallas will help ticket sales. The team was fourth from bottom in WNBA average attendance in 2023, at 4,641 fans per game. The Atlanta Dream were last at 3,006 per contest, the Aces were tops at 9,551.
However, the team announced Monday that it has sold out season ticket memberships for the upcoming season. Season tickets make up for approximately 40 percent of the 6,251-seat capacity at the College Park Center.
The Dallas Wings franchise began life in 1998 as the Detroit Shock, one of the WNBA’s first expansion teams. The Shock were successful on the court, winning three league titles from 2003 to 2008. However, that did not translate to off-court success in the way of ticket sales, and the franchise moved to Tulsa in 2010.
The move to Tulsa did not prove to salve the franchise’s needs. Five seasons of losing basketball did not entice the residents of the Oklahoma boomtown to support the team. By the time that Tulsa qualified for its first playoff appearance in 2015, the WNBA had already approved the move to Dallas.
While the team has yet to recapture the championship pedigree of the Detroit years, 2023 was the franchise’s best season since becoming the Dallas Wings. The squad finished with a 22-18 record and won a playoff series for the first time since leaving Detroit in 2009.
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Tom Carothers is a sportswriter with more than 20 years of experience covering sports at the high school, collegiate, and professional levels. Still longing for the return of his Minnesota North Stars, he has a high pain tolerance as a big fan of the Chicago Cubs, Cleveland Browns, and Tottenham Hotspur.
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