Indiana Fever To Play Dallas Wings During WNBA Preseason
The Indiana Fever are set to open the 2026 WNBA preseason with two games. The first will be on the road against the New York Liberty on April 25, and the second against the Dallas Wings at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse on April 30.
Indiana Fever To Play Dallas Wings In WNBA Preseason
The WNBA regular season is set to start on May 8. Until then, the WNBA preseason is coming up in roughly three months. The high-profile Indiana Fever is set to open the WNBA preseason against the Liberty on April 25. They then host the Dallas Wings on April 30.
The Fever and Wings’ rivalry began with the top players from their respective colleges, Caitlin Clark from the University of Iowa and Paige Bueckers from the University of Connecticut.
Fever vs. Wings Outlook
The preseason matchup between the Fever and Wings is the first of four scheduled games between the two teams in 2026. Dallas will visit Indiana again on August 14 before ending the slate against Indiana at the College Park Center in Arlington, Texas, on August 20.
The Fever and Wings’ matchups have become one of the most-watched, highest-attended matchups in the modern WNBA. Led by young superstars Clark and Bueckers, the previous four-game slate in 2025 recorded some of the biggest television ratings, such as 2.1 million average viewers for the July 13 matchup on ABC.
The two teams played in front of an average crowd size of nearly 18,000 over the four-game slate in 2025. The two teams’ historic game on June 27 recorded 20,409 at the American Airlines Center in downtown Dallas. It was a franchise single-game record, the largest crowd in Texas WNBA history, and just the eighth regular-season game in WNBA history to feature more than 20,000 fans in attendance.
Fever vs. Wings Fun Facts
The Fever and Wings’ four-game series features the three most recent No. 1 overall picks of the WNBA Draft, who are also the last three winners of the WNBA Rookie of the Year award.
The Wings chose Bueckers No. 1 overall in the 2025 WNBA Draft. Bueckers, now 24, had a record-setting first season in Dallas, highlighted by earning the WNBA Rookie of the Year award. After winning the 2025 WNBA Draft Lottery, the Wings earned the opportunity to pick No. 1 once again in 2026.
The Wings’ 2026 season will be the first under veteran Head Coach Jose Fernandez. Hired in October 2025, Fernandez spent the last 25 seasons as head coach at the University of South Florida, earning nearly 500 wins with 19 postseason berths. He guided more than 100 players into professional basketball careers while establishing himself as a leader in the international scene. He won two gold medals with USA Basketball’s U18 and U19 National Teams as an assistant coach.
The Wings have a solid head coach and are in a strong position to compete in 2026. Even if the team doesn’t earn a postseason berth, they can spoil other WNBA teams’ hopes for postseason berths.
