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Fans stand up for the T-shirt toss during a game against the Minnesota Lynx on May 16 at College Park Center.\u00a0<\/p>\n
File photo \/ Samarie Goffney<\/p>\n
The Dallas Wings have played at UTA\u2019s College Park Center since their move to Texas in 2016, but in 2024, the team signed a deal with the city of Dallas to eventually move to its namesake town.<\/p>\n
Plans were made to renovate the Dallas Memorial Auditorium into a basketball arena, set to open in 2026. Then, the arena\u2019s opening was delayed to 2027. Eventually, the date was pushed back again to 2028.<\/p>\n
An agreement said that if the auditorium wasn\u2019t finished on time, the Wings would temporarily play in the American Airlines Center, starting in 2026. Despite this, the team has played at College Park Center this year.<\/p>\n
Outlets spent the whole season waiting for an eventual announcement that the team would make the move to the home of the NBA\u2019s Dallas Mavericks and NHL\u2019s Dallas Stars. Even head coach Jose Fernandez seemingly let slip before the season that the team would move to the 20,000-seat downtown arena.<\/p>\n
Eventually, in August, just before the second of the team\u2019s three games at the American Airlines Center in 2026, it was officially announced that the team was in its final season in Arlington and would move to Dallas in 2027.<\/p>\n
For some fans, the move means the team they\u2019ve watched play nearly every home game for 11 seasons will be harder to see in person. For others, it means the team they\u2019ve recently grown to love will be easier to see.<\/p>\n
Jodi Conner and Susan Watson, both Euless, Texas, residents in their 70s, said they\u2019ve been Wings season ticket holders for half a decade and have been to every home game. The pair said that\u2019ll likely change after the move.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to find out if the train runs, because driving in Dallas at that time of day, we hate it,\u201d Watson said.<\/p>\n
Decatur, Texas, residents and season ticket holders Sheryl Adair, 62, and Tricia Johnson, 52, similarly said that while the drive to Arlington is already far for them, driving to Dallas would likely double the journey.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe live so far. I mean, this is not bad, but going to Dallas is going to be too much, and traffic is getting worse and worse,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt would be devastating because we\u2019ll still be fans, and we\u2019ll watch it on TV, but we won\u2019t get to come.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even some excited by the move say the temporary home may not be a good fit. Dallas County resident Cathy Brownlee, who\u2019s held Wings season tickets since 2016, said that while she\u2019s excited about the team playing in the Dallas Memorial Auditorium, she despises the American Airlines Center.<\/p>\n
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Plano resident Paula DeAnda, 26, holds up a sign dedicated to rookie guard Paige Bueckers during a game against the Minnesota Lynx on May 16 at College Park Center.\u00a0<\/p>\n
File photo \/ Samarie Goffney<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re really excited about moving to the auditorium, but the American Airlines Center is an awful place to see games or concerts or anything else,\u201d Brownlee said. \u201cThe seats are terrible. They\u2019re too close for anybody that\u2019s over 5\u20195\u201d.\u201d<\/p>\n
Not everyone dislikes the idea of the Wings playing in Dallas. Some, like 26-year-old North Dallas resident Keenan Parker, said that moving somewhere with more access to the Dallas Area Rapid Transit system will be a positive for the team.<\/p>\n
Others, like 20-year-old Schulenburg, Texas, resident Mileidi Cortez, said the team moving to the bigger city will help expand an already expanding fan base.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019ll bring more fans because they\u2019re moving to a stadium that more people are familiar with, but I think it\u2019ll be a good move for them,\u201d Cortez said. \u201cI\u2019m excited. I\u2019m happy for the team.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even some who are from Arlington, like 48-year-old Dana Jones, said they\u2019re sticking with the team no matter where in Dallas-Fort Worth the home arena is.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just a Wings fan,\u201d Jones said before the team\u2019s first game in Dallas this year. \u201cEven though Arlington is closer for me, it\u2019s like seven minutes from my house, I would absolutely travel the half hour to come here.\u201d<\/p>\n
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College Park Center has been the home of the Dallas Wings since 2016.\u00a0<\/p>\n
File photo \/ Samarie Goffney<\/p>\n
Many Wings fans agree with Jones\u2019 sentiment. For one reason or another, the move won\u2019t mean a change in tendencies for a lot of them, just a change of which highway exit to take.<\/p>\n
Even for the team itself, according to Fernandez, there are only two main differences between American Airlines and College Park: the capacity and the location.<\/p>\n
\u201cI live right on the border of Midlothian and Waxahachie,\u201d Fernandez said after the first game in Dallas this season. \u201cI like it out there. It\u2019s quiet. The dogs are running around. I got here quicker today.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Wings play their final two regular-season games in Arlington at 7 p.m. Sept. 17 against the Los Angeles Sparks and at noon Sept. 19 against the Phoenix Mercury.<\/p>\n
@TyRoland06<\/p>\n