City leaders promised to deliver the Dallas Wings a new practice facility in time for the start of training camp next month, but shovels have yet to hit the ground on the project that would have been key to attracting top WNBA talent during a historic free agency.
A week after the WNBA and its players’ union agreed to terms on a new landmark collective bargaining agreement that is expected to increase player salaries and create million-dollar athletes for the first time in the league’s 30-year history, the city council will vote Wednesday on whether the Wings should take over as the developer of the 70,000-square-foot facility planned at Joey Georgusis Park in Oak Cliff.
There’s no telling what happens Wednesday, but the Wings hope they can start making progress with a No. 1 draft pick on the way and an unprecedented free agency beginning April 7.
More than 100 players are free agents in 2026, including the Wings’ own Arike Ogunbowale, Myisha Hines-Allen and Tyasha Harris. The negotiation period starts April 9 and players can sign deals on April 12, the day before the WNBA draft.
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The Wings, who signed a contract with the city in 2024 to move into a new practice facility and play games at a renovated Memorial Auditorium in downtown by 2026, will continue to practice and play games at UT-Arlington’s College Park Center.
Other teams across the WNBA have their own facilities or have made progress toward building them.
The Los Angeles Sparks recently broke ground on a $150 million, 55,000-square-foot practice facility scheduled to open next year. The Chicago Sky is nearing completion on a $60 million, 80,000-square-foot facility expected to open in late spring.
Meanwhile, the City of Dallas has yet to decide if the Wings should even take over the project.
The city council vote had been delayed in February due to unanswered questions surrounding the project’s cost, which was $27 million over budget. The city would cap its total contribution at $57 million under the revised agreement and the Wings would have to cover the at least $27 million remaining.
This wasn’t exactly how the team, courted by the city in 2022, envisioned things would go.
When the Wings signed the agreement with the City of Dallas two years ago, CEO and managing partner Greg Bibb expected the team to have facilities in 2026 that would match this monumental moment in league history and attract the WNBA’s top players.
But the standstill puts the Wings, looking to build around last year’s No. 1 pick Paige Bueckers, behind other WNBA clubs in an era where players are asking for more.