{"id":476027,"date":"2026-02-27T23:45:21","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T23:45:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/476027\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T23:45:21","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T23:45:21","slug":"moving-dallas-wings-to-american-airlines-center-not-a-viable-option-ceo-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/476027\/","title":{"rendered":"Moving Dallas Wings to American Airlines Center not a viable option, CEO says"},"content":{"rendered":"

Extended delays and significant cost overruns have continued to soil the Dallas Wings<\/a>\u2019 planned move to a new practice facility and downtown arena, but the WNBA team won\u2019t accept a consolation prize from the City of Dallas.<\/p>\n

Three Dallas City Council members want the city to consider moving the team into American Airlines Center<\/a>, the home arena of the Dallas Mavericks and Dallas Stars, for practices and games as a temporary and potentially long-term solution that would save taxpayers money and address the team\u2019s immediate needs.<\/p>\n

But the venue, which has lease agreements through 2031 with the Mavericks and the Stars and a busy event calendar, is not a viable option, Wings CEO and managing partner Greg Bibb told The Dallas Morning News on Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe love the American Airlines Center, but the AAC simply does not work as a practice facility venue,\u201d Bibb said. \u201cThe arena does not possess the team-specific training elements our athletes need and deserve. I think there are good reasons both current AAC tenants do not practice in that venue.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The NBA and NHL franchises have actively explored options to leave AAC<\/a>, which hosted two regular-season Wings games last year and is on the schedule for three more in 2026. The Wings currently play games and practice at UT-Arlington\u2019s College Park Center.<\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\"Dallas<\/p>\n

Bibb also said he does not expect AAC to be the Wings\u2019 permanent gameday home, citing a 15-year agreement signed with the City of Dallas in 2024 that promised a renovated Memorial Auditorium by the start of the 2026 WNBA season. The city also committed to deliver a new practice facility in Oak Cliff by this spring.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m confident the City of Dallas will do the right thing and honor the agreement signed with the Wings nearly two years ago,\u201d Bibb said. <\/p>\n

Council members Adam Bazaldua, Paula Blackmon and Paul Ridley filed a memo Wednesday asking the city to discuss moving the Wings into AAC. Bazaldua and Blackmon were among the 12 council members who voted yes last June to approve the Oak Cliff facility<\/a>, while Ridley voted no.<\/p>\n

Bazaldua has argued that the city may save money by having the WNBA team play and practice at existing facilities, as building new ones and delaying the projects increases costs. He rebutted Bibb\u2019s statement that American Airlines Center would not work as a practice facility venue.<\/p>\n

\u201cGiving them any more tax dollars isn\u2019t what I would personally call a viable option for the City of Dallas,\u201d he told The News on Friday. \u201cSo are we at an impasse?\u201d<\/p>\n

Council member Chad West told The News he agrees with Bibb\u2019s assessment about whether American Airlines Center is a viable option for the Wings.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I question the city\u2019s legal ability to even require them to practice there, as the facilities are contracted to the Mavericks already,\u201d West said. \u201cWe have a legal and moral obligation to the Wings and to our residents who love them to follow through with the facility council promised when we all voted to bring them to Dallas.\u201d<\/p>\n

The City Council delayed a vote this week on a revised deal that would shift responsibility for the Oak Cliff facility to the Wings<\/a> and cap the city\u2019s total contribution at $57 million. Members had unanswered questions about why the facility is now estimated at $81 million \u2014 $27 million over budget \u2014 and delayed by at least a year.<\/p>\n

Included in the city\u2019s contribution under the proposed agreement is $54 million in economic development grants, $3.2 million in developer fees and $653,000 in delay reimbursements. The Wings would agree not to sue the city for the delays in exchange for the reimbursement and would act as the developer of the 70,000-square-foot facility at Joey Georgusis Park, covering the at least $27 million needed to complete the project.<\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

\u201cThe site has been cleared. The facility has been designed specifically for that space,\u201d Bibb said. \u201cWe are ready to take over as the developer of the project and build a facility that will benefit the team and the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

The whole ordeal has been a headache for the Wings, which selected superstar Paige Bueckers No. 1 overall in the 2025 WNBA draft and has another No. 1 pick this year. With women\u2019s basketball on the rise, a landmark collective bargaining agreement in the works and the opportunity to build around Bueckers, the Wings have committed to capitalizing on the moment.<\/p>\n

That doesn\u2019t look like moving into AAC, but having their own place to call home, like the city promised.<\/p>\n

\u201cDallas is good for the Wings and the Wings are good for Dallas,\u201d Bibb said. \u201cHow our situation plays out will help other businesses \u2014 whether sports teams, for-profit enterprises or charitable organizations \u2014 better understand what it means to do long-term mutually beneficial partnerships with the city.\u201d<\/p>\n

Staff writer Everton Bailey contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Extended delays and significant cost overruns have continued to soil the Dallas Wings\u2019 planned move to a new…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":476028,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5117],"tags":[196,28677,28678,147,7644,5278,5,16722,4,333,197,601,4192],"class_list":{"0":"post-476027","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas-stars","8":"tag-dallas","9":"tag-dallas-city-council","10":"tag-dallas-city-hall","11":"tag-dallas-stars","12":"tag-dallas-wings","13":"tag-dallasstars","14":"tag-hockey","15":"tag-local-politics","16":"tag-nhl","17":"tag-politics","18":"tag-stars","19":"tag-wings","20":"tag-wnba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116145260266312202","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/476027","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=476027"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/476027\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/476028"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=476027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=476027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=476027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}