The Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) metropolitan area, like most American cities of its size, is home to a sports team in almost every professional league in the country. From the Texas Rangers to the Dallas Cowboys, Mavericks, and Stars, chances are you’re familiar with its iconic franchises- regardless of if that familiarity comes with feelings of love, hate, or indifference.
But when it comes to the WNBA, even though the league has skyrocketed into mainstream popularity in recent years, not much of the attention has fallen on the Dallas Wings. Established in 2016 and yet to make an appearance in the WNBA Finals, the Wings have largely flown under the radar in past seasons.
Like the Cowboys and the Rangers, the Wings play out of Arlington, Texas- a DFW suburb economically built around the entertainment industry, with many of its residents being employed in its plentiful stadiums and theme parks.
The city is home to the first ever Six Flags theme park- operating since 1960, with the Cowboys and Rangers stadiums visible from the peaks of its rollercoasters. The stadium on campus at the University of Texas at Arlington, where the Wings play, is far smaller in size and can’t be seen from even the tallest rides at Six Flags.
But in recent weeks, the Wings have begun to take flight. More eyes are on Dallas for professional women’s basketball now than ever before- a month into the WNBA offseason.
-----
The story of the Wings franchise dates back to 1998, when the WNBA formed an expansion team titled the Detroit Shock. After former center for the Detroit Pistons, Bill Laimbeer, became its head coach for the 2003 season, the Shock won their first of three championships and became one of the most dominant teams in the WNBA.
After three consecutive finals appearances between 2006 to 2008, bringing home championship wins in the even years, the franchise has not advanced to the finals since. The Shock moved to Tulsa in 2010, where they underwent numerous staff changes and a rebuilding period that lasted five grueling seasons of losing records.
In 2015, the Tulsa Shock began to find their rhythm again as they went into the Western Conference semifinals with a 18-16 record ahead of playoffs. After they were ultimately defeated by the Phoenix Mercury, the franchise realized they needed to make substantial changes to break back into the league.
Franchise owner Bill Cameron had a difficult decision to make: move the Shock away from Tulsa, where the team was struggling both on the court and in the box office, or remain in the community where they had been building a fanbase for the last five years.
Cameron, who also owns a portion of Oklahoma City’s NBA team, led the ownership group that purchased the Shock from Detroit and brought the team to his home state of Oklahoma. But he couldn’t shake the thought of greener pastures for the team, eventually suggesting a relocation to the nearest metropolitan area of DFW.
When comparing Tulsa with Dallas by the numbers, it makes sense why the league unanimously voted to approve the team’s relocation. In 2015, Tulsa had the 60th largest market in the nation while Dallas had the fifth largest, and almost double the amount of people in the DFW metroplex than the entire state of Oklahoma.
The 2015 season also saw record-low attendance for the entire WNBA, averaging 7,318 fans per game. The Tulsa Shock saw some of the worst of these numbers, finishing last in the league for attendance four times and second-to-last twice during their six seasons. It was mutually beneficial for both the Shock and the WNBA organization as a whole to find a better market to relocate its lowest-selling team.
----
Meanwhile, the women’s basketball community in Dallas was hungry for a professional team. In the days before the WNBA was established in 1996, the original Women’s Professional Basketball League (WBL) formed a franchise in the city titled the Dallas Diamonds in 1979, who were one of the strongest teams over the league’s duration.
In the 1980 draft, the Diamonds selected Nancy Lieberman with the number one pick, who led the team into the 1981 WBL Finals her rookie year. Though the Diamonds lost in game five to the Nebraska Wranglers, Lieberman earned WBL Rookie of the Year after averaging 27 points per game.
Lieberman- nicknamed “Lady Magic” for her playing style reminiscent of NBA icon Magic Johnson- more than doubled the Diamonds’ attendance during home games at the Moody Coliseum. One crowd at a playoff game in 1981outnumbered the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks average for that year.
Despite their success on the court, the Diamonds and the rest of the WBL both ran into financial troubles from lacking investments, separately disbanding in 1981 after the championship game.
The Diamonds returned in 1984 within a new professional league, the Women’s American Basketball Association (WABA), and won their first championship that year. Lieberman was named the game’s MVP, scoring 19 points to help the Diamonds secure a 101-94 win over the WABA All-Star team.
Unfortunately, this was also the only season for WABA, and the Diamonds never returned to the court. Lieberman went on to win countless accolades and awards from three hall of fame submissions to an Olympic medal. She became a beloved figure in the women’s basketball community, both in DFW- where she settled down with her family- and across the country.
When the National Women’s Basketball League, a former professional league parallel to the WNBA that ran in its offseason, established the Dallas Fury in 2004, Lieberman coached the team to a championship. The team moved to San Francisco in 2006, and the league disbanded the following year- once again leaving Dallas without a women’s basketball team.
When the WNBA announced the Wings would be coming to Dallas in the 2016 season, Lieberman told the Dallas Morning News, “The Wings will get tremendous support here. Dallas was ridiculously supportive of the Diamonds when we played at Moody Coliseum.”
“Dallas didn’t jump on the women’s basketball bandwagon,” Lieberman said as the league was starting to reach new heights ahead of the Wings’ establishment, “it was the bandwagon.”
-----
The Wings sold out their inaugural game to a crowd of 7,275 at the College Park Center stadium in Arlington.
“This arena here is one of the more intimate arenas,” said WNBA president Lisa Borders during a visit in celebration of Nancy Lieberman Day in Dallas on June 10th, 2017, “I can remember being here opening day last year. It was absolutely deafening.”
For the remainder of the 2016 season, the franchise did not sell out any other games. Still, box office sales remained above 4,000 tickets for the 16 other home games, averaging 5,298 fans per game. Total attendance for the Wings in its first season reached 90,061 seats- a solid majority of their home arena’s limited capacity compared to other WNBA teams.
At the start of the 2017 season, attendance for the Wings dropped by almost 30 percent. By the third month of the season, the Wings’ biggest crowd had 70 percent capacity on opening night.
Unsure where this shift came from- it wasn’t a lack of advertising; their name was plastered on billboards across DFW- the Wings decided the best way to get their community interested again was to show interest in them too.
Owner Bill Cameron and the franchise’s General Manager, Greg Bibb, sent players and coaches to appearances across DFW to get engaged with their new city. Over the summer of 2017, the Wings participated in local parades and holiday celebrations, threw the first pitch at a local minor league game, and handed out meals with the North Texas Food Bank.
Along with this strategy, the Wings coaches hoped that securing some more wins on the court would help draw a crowd back to College Park Center. They aimed to make up for their limited in-person capacity through the TV market, securing coverage on ESPN and other national networks for their biggest games.
And it worked- the team qualified for their first playoffs since coming to Dallas, going into the first round with a 16-18 record. Under the leadership of Skylar Diggins-Smith, who averaged 18.5 points per game, the team broke numerous franchise records despite losing to the Washington Mystics. Allisha Gray, who was drafted by the Wings that year with the number four pick, averaged 13 points and was named the WNBA Rookie of the Year for the 2017 season.
The Wings’ momentum continued into the start of their 2018 season, with Diggins-Smith scoring a career-high 35 points in a 89-83 victory over the Indiana Fever in their June 8th game. Soon, their fortunes changed, and the team faced a month of losses in July through August.
Rookie Liz Cambage scored 43 points in a playoff-securing win over the Las Vegas Aces to break the team’s losing streak, earning the eighth spot with a 107-102 victory. In a post-game interview on the court after their win on August 18th, she recounted the season’s struggle and her relief in their success.
“We had to win tonight, and we got it done. We finally got a win; we haven’t won a game since July 19th. We got it off our backs now, we can get on a roll and can feel good going into the playoffs,” Cambage shared.
Despite a strong offense from core players like Cambage, Diggins-Smith, and Gray, the Wings struggled defensively and were eliminated again in the first round.
Heading into the 2019 season, the Wings’ highest-scoring players had all left the franchise- Cambage went to the Aces and Diggins-Smith was on leave for the year after announcing her pregnancy. The Wings desperately needed to rebuild, so they embarked on a search for new recruits with both offensive and defensive talents.
----
Arike Ogunbowale, born in Milwaukee, started to gain recognition in the basketball world when she led her team at Divine Savior Holy Angels High School to a state championship. After being named Wisconsin Miss Basketball and a McDonald’s High School All-American her senior year, Ogunbowale committed to the University of Notre Dame in 2015.
With the Fighting Irish, Ogunbowale launched into the national spotlight as a lead scorer. In 2018, she was instrumental for their victory in the NCAA Championship Final and Semifinal matches- shooting buzzer-beater shots to win both games, earning recognition as the Final Four Most Outstanding Player.
As the biggest narrative from the biggest stage in college basketball, Ogunbowale’s showstopping moments captured the attention of mainstream audiences in the basketball world and the general public. Her press tour included appearances on season 26 of Dancing with the Stars and as a guest on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2018, also getting to meet her role model and basketball legend Kobe Bryant.
By her last semester at Notre Dame in 2019, Ogunbowale had broken the school’s records for all-time scoring (2,626 points), career-made field goals (954), and the second-most consecutive starting games (102). Coupled with her popularity as a player, she was one of the most sought-after recruits going into the 2019 WNBA Draft.
Ogunbowale was drafted with the number five pick by the Dallas Wings, and she immediately became one of the team’s top scorers in her rookie season. Though the Wings were unable to qualify for the playoffs in 2019, Ogunbowale was named the WNBA Rookie of the Year as the league’s third overall scorer, averaging 19.1 points per game.
“Arike’s got a little bit of everything. She attacks, and it puts pressure on the defense,” said the 2019 coach of the New York Liberty, Katie Smith. “She’s not afraid to take big shots. And if she gets hot, it’s going to be a problem.”
-----
In 2020, Ogunbowale became the WNBA’s top scorer with an average of 22.8 points per game, already establishing herself as one of the league’s best. The following season, she was the MVP in the WNBA All-Star game against Team USA and led the Wings to the playoffs.
The Wings competed in three consecutive playoffs from 2021 to 2023, advancing to the semifinals for the first time under Ogunbowale’s leadership in 2023. Through this new success on the court, former GM and now CEO of the Wings, Greg Bibb, was able to turn the Wings into one of the top revenue producers in the WNBA.
By the conclusion of the 2023 season, women’s basketball had never-before-seen popularity from the college game and its record-breaking March Madness viewership. Along with the Wings holding the best record they’d ever had, the mayor of Dallas, Eric Johnson, realized the team had the potential to attract economic growth for the city of Dallas and advocated for investments into the franchise beyond ceremonial recognitions.
In April of 2024, Dallas city council unanimously approved a vote to relocate the Wings from College Park Center in Arlington to the Dallas Memorial Auditorium in the heart of downtown.
Located in the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, the arena is currently being renovated as part of an ongoing long-term development project for the center. After its completion, the stadium will hold over 2,000 more people than College Park Center.
“At a conservative price of about $40 a ticket, spread out over about 40,000 additional seats a year for home games, we’re talking about at least $1.5 million more in ticket revenue a year,” estimated Wings CEO and president Bibb to D Magazine.
In 2026, the Wings’ 15-year contract in their new home will begin. The agreement with Dallas City Council also includes a whopping $19 million dollars of funding as an incentive package for the Wings to bring more fans to the city.
“Dallas is the place to be right now- for residents, for businesses, and for professional sports teams and their fans,” said Mayor Johnson in a press release about the new contract. “This deal has been a top priority for us because we know the Dallas Wings will soar in the city they represent.”
----
The 2024 season had ups and downs for the Wings- though they lost a vicious battle for the eighth playoff spot, attendance was at an all-time high for both the average game (5,911 tickets) and in total (118,217 tickets).
For Arike Ogunbowale, this past season was one of her strongest: she was again named the WNBA All-Star MVP on July 20th, breaking records for the most points scored in a single quarter (21 points), half (34 points), and the entire duration for an All-Star game (also 34 points; she only scored in the second half).
In a game against the Liberty on September 12th, Ogunbowale became the franchise’s all-time lead scorer when she made her 3,972nd point, surpassing Detroit Shock player Deanna Nolan’s record from 2009.
Throughout the season, Ogunbowale’s partners-in-crime were forwards Natasha Howard and Satou Sabally as the Wings’ other top scorers, but both are unrestricted free agents in the 2025 season. Howard already confirmed on social media that she won’t be returning to the Wings, but it’s unclear if Sabally will remain next season.
So, what’s next for the Wings? Though there aren’t many certain answers to this question, what little is known about possibilities for the franchise was enough to sell out pre-sale tickets for every home game in the 2025 season: the Wings have the first pick in next year’s draft.
After winning the WNBA Draft Lottery on November 16th in an upset over the last-ranked team with the highest chances, the Los Angeles Sparks, the Wings are most likely to select University of Connecticut guard Paige Bueckers- a superstar on and off the court as one of the highest paid females in the NCAA.
Though she announced she would declare for the draft earlier this year, Bueckers’ first choice was the Sparks, and she hadn’t even been considering the Wings. It is possible she may remain in Connecticut to play her final year of redshirt eligibility, but it’s almost certain she will end up in Dallas if she enters the draft.
More developments last month in the Wings franchise have made Dallas a much more attractive team for Bueckers. On November 8th, the franchise hired Curtis Miller as their new GM, who recently left the Sparks as head coach and was a former GM of seven years for the Connecticut Sun. The Wings are also rebuilding their coaching staff, with Miller to assist in the process.
Miller decided to accept the GM offer from Dallas, over coaching positions available with the Wings or the other four other teams with openings, because he saw “immeasurable” potential in the franchise that he couldn’t pass up.
“With a new arena and practice facility on the horizon, a talented roster which is impactful both on the court and in the community, exciting positioning in the upcoming draft, a passionate and loyal fanbase, a fully invested ownership group, and a dedicated front office staff, now is the time for the Wings,” said Miller in his statement announcing his new position.
Regardless of who ends up on the roster next season, the Wings will have their first ever number one pick in the WNBA Draft in April 2025. But Dallas had a first pick in a professional women’s basketball draft once before in 1980, when the Diamonds drafted Nancy Lieberman.
This time around, with a league constantly climbing to new ranks of success and a roster already full of All-Star players, the sky’s the limit for how high the Wings will fly with a number one recruit on their team in 2025.