The Dallas Wings could be the latest professional sports team to play its games in Downtown Dallas. The City of Dallas will vote on Wednesday about a potential move from Arlington to the Dallas Memorial Auditorium.
DALLAS – The Dallas Wings could be a step closer to playing games in the city of Dallas.
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Wednesday, Dallas city leaders could vote on a resolution to bring the WNBA team to Dallas. The team currently plays in Arlington at UTA.
With Caitlin Clark and other big names joining the WNBA, women’s basketball is at its peak in popularity.
Now, the city of Dallas is trying to make the Wings call Dallas its home in a newly renovated arena.
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Women’s basketball has been talked about nonstop this year.
More than 18 million people watched the college national championship game between South Carolina and Iowa, topping viewership for the men’s final.
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Dorothy Gentry is a WNBA writer. Her stories are published in The Athletic, Slam and D Magazine.
“These women are balling from high school to college and then into the league. So the product is awesome,” she said. “And then of course the accessibility. They’re on television now; not just locally, national outlets.”
This week, the Dallas Wings announced for the first time in franchise history a sellout of season tickets. Other WNBA teams did the same.
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The latest draft class has a lot to do with that. Players like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese have become household names.
Dallas Wings CEO on this year’s WNBA Draft picks
Greg Bibb, the president and CEO of the Dallas Wings, joined Good Day to talk about the team’s 2024 WNBA Draft picks. He said Jacy Sheldon from Ohio State, Carla Leite from France, and Ashley Owusu from Penn State will each bring something to Dallas.
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Clark was the first pick overall for the Indiana Fever, a team the Wings host next week for a preseason game.
“The Wings selling out for the first time in their history. That is amazing. I think it’s just part of the growth that we’re seeing,” Gentry said. “It’s like, again, the accessibility, the fans, the followers. And the natural progression is to start selling out these arenas and getting that revenue that these women deserve.”
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The city of Dallas wants a piece of the action.
City Council has a vote scheduled Wednesday to bring a professional sports team to Dallas Memorial Auditorium next to the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center.
Dallas Memorial Auditorium
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The resolution does not name the Wings, but the team announced over the weekend it is in talks with the Dallas mayor.
The Wings currently play on the UT Arlington campus.
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If approved, the Wings would move to a newly renovated arena, part of the new convention center master plan.
Voters already approved the funding for the project.
In a statement, the Wings president and CEO said, “The city of Arlington, the University of Texas at Arlington and College Park Center continue to be wonderful partners, and we look forward to continuing that relationship during the 2024 and 2025 seasons. The city of Dallas’s proposal offers a fitting, world-class stage for our remarkable athletes and devoted fans, and we look forward to commenting further at the appropriate time.”
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“The fans are still coming to Arlington to see the Dallas Wings,” Gentry said. “But you have to say that being Dallas downtown, same area as The Star, same area as the Mavs, same area, you know, there. And that centralized location could only be a good thing for them as well.”
The terms of the contract the team would agree to obtain occupancy on March 1, 2026.
Every other year, the Aurora Biennial transforms Dallas into a dazzling display of lights, video and music. This year was special because it was the first time the event took play in-person since 2018. The free public event turned the Dallas Public Library, Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, Dallas City Hall and other buildings into art installations with the theme “FuturePresentPast.”
Arts Access is an arts journalism collaboration powered by The Dallas Morning News and KERA.
This community-funded journalism initiative is funded by the Better Together Fund, Carol & Don Glendenning, City of Dallas OAC, Communities Foundation of Texas, The University of Texas at Dallas, The Dallas Foundation, Eugene McDermott Foundation, James & Gayle Halperin Foundation, Jennifer & Peter Altabef and The Meadows Foundation. The News and KERA retain full editorial control of Arts Access’ journalism.
Joe Mixon ran for three touchdowns to extend his TD streak to six games since coming back from injury, Derek Barnett returned a fumble 28 yards for a score, and the Texans beat the Cowboys 34-10 on Monday night.
The Texans (7-4) stopped just the second two-game losing streak of CJ Stroud’s young career while maintaining a two-game lead in the AFC South.
Houston pulled away in the second-half a week after a 26-23 last-play loss to Detroit at home, when the Texans let a 23-7 half-time lead get away from them.
“It’s not as bad as it ever seems, and it’s never as good as it ever seems,” Stroud said. “Those type of games, you have to come out with a win, especially going up like that at the half [against the Lions]. But what are we going to do about it?”
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Amid a woeful season for the Cowboys (3-7) on the field, debris fell from their stadium’s retractable roof as it was opening a few hours before the game. There was no delay and no injuries were reported, just another mishap to foreshadow a fifth consecutive defeat for a team that lost five games total in each of the past three seasons.
Cooper Rush threw a 64-yard touchdown pass to KaVontae Turpin but lost his second start since Dak Prescott’s season-ending hamstring injury.
The Dallas losing streak is their longest since a seven-game skid in 2015, and the Cowboys dropped to 0-5 at home. Dallas are the first team in NFL history to trail by at least 20 points in six consecutive home games, including last season’s wildcard playoff loss to Green Bay, according to Sportradar. The Cowboys had reached the playoffs in each of their previous three seasons, but that run is all but over.
“Well, they better be frustrated,” Dallas head coach Mike McCarthy said. “I mean, we’re all frustrated. I think there’d be something wrong if they weren’t frustrated. So just very honest with everything and stay in tune with what’s right in front of us. And that’s the only way I’ve ever done it.”
The Cowboys were down 20-10 early in the fourth quarter when Barnett knocked the ball out of Rush’s hand. Dallas rookie left tackle Tyler Guyton caught it and was trying to run when Jalen Pitre knocked the ball loose again. Barnett scooped up the ball and scored, although he almost stepped out of bounds.
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“The play he made really changed for game for us,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. “It flipped the momentum. It got everybody juiced up on the sideline. It was just a huge play.”
Earlier, the Cowboys appeared to have pulled within a touchdown on a 64-yard field goal from Brandon Aubrey, but Barnett was penalized for slapping Terence Steele on the rush. Dallas erased the points by taking the penalty, but Rush’s fourth-down pass from the Houston eight-yard line was incomplete on the only good scoring chance of the second half for the the Cowboys.
“The defense played with elite energy,” Ryans said. “One big play that we gave up. Like to have that one back, but overall I think our guys played really well.”
Texans receiver Nico Collins returned after missing five games with a hamstring injury and took a screen pass 77 yards to the end zone on the first play of the game, only to have it called back because of an ineligible receiver downfield.
That possession ended with a touchdown anyway on Mixon’s 45-yard sprint up the middle, and he ran wide for a one-yard score and a 14-0 lead. Mixon had 109 yards rushing on the day and set up a field goal with a 37-yard catch-and-run on a screen.
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“I really love that first play because it showed what we could do in this game,” Ryans said. “Even though it got called back, I just told all our guys, ‘We can go score on these guys again. Just get it in your mind we’re going to score again.’”
Already without Prescott, the Cowboys lost tight end Jake Ferguson to a concussion and perennial All-Pro right guard Zack Martin and left guard Tyler Smith to ankle injuries. Rush was sacked five times, three on the same possession when Martin and Smith were injured.
Stroud, who has been in a mini-slump, threw for 257 yards while avoiding any mistakes after an early interception on fourth down. It was the third time in five games he has gone without a touchdown pass, and he has two TDs and three picks in that stretch.
Rush was 32 of 55 for 354 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Turpin had three catches for 86 yards.
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