The Dallas Wings are a franchise on the rise, armed with the last two No. 1 overall draft picks, UConn guards Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd. Dallas now hopes its budding on-court excellence will be matched by the franchise’s facilities.
The Wings officially broke ground last Friday on a new practice facility, the Joey Georgusis Park Auxiliary Building in the Far West Oak Cliff neighborhood in Dallas, according to a Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) document obtained by Chron. The project will cost more than $80 million, with an estimated $52 million from Dallas city funds, according to the TDLR document.
The Wings aim to complete the project by the end of April 2027, allowing the team to use their new facility before the start of the 2027 WNBA season. The team’s current facility is in Arlington, where the Wings practice and play at the College Park Center, home of UT-Arlington’s basketball programs.
The new practice facility will be just one of the changes for the Wings in 2027 and beyond. The team expects 2027 to be the last year for the franchise in Arlington, as Wings head coach Jose Fernandez said Thursday. The team will play its 2027 games at the American Airlines Center, home of the Dallas Mavericks (Wings CEO later told USA Today there is not a “finalized agreement” to move to AAC). Regardless of the 2027 venue, the Wings should have a new home for games by 2028, when it expects to move into the recently renovated Dallas Memorial Auditorium.
Dallas’ WNBA team isn’t currently a glamour franchise. It hasn’t reached the WNBA Finals in 10 seasons, and it plays in a college arena roughly half an hour from its city’s namesake. But the tide could soon turn in the Metroplex.
Dallas has two budding stars in Bueckers and Fudd. It now has rather concrete plans for a new arena and a new practice facility. Perhaps the new digs will be matched with a championship in the coming seasons, making Dallas a marquee spot for women’s hoops through the 2020s and into the next decade.