Dallas’ $55 million spend for the WNBA’s Wings deserves a closer look

With the rising stardom of standout athletes like Paige Bueckers, Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark, women’s basketball is experiencing a well-deserved surge in popularity. We cheered on a deal by Dallas City Hall to bring the Dallas Wings to the convention center downtown, but we have questions about a recent City Council decision to spend $55 million on a training facility for the Wings somewhere else.

The Wings are clearly having a moment. Earlier this year, the team selected Bueckers as the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA draft. The team sold out season ticket memberships for the 2025 season in November, even before it drafted Bueckers. This marks the second consecutive year the team has sold out of season tickets.

This excitement deserves support, but support doesn’t have to mean a blank check. A publicly funded practice facility in west Oak Cliff warrants some skepticism, given its $55 million price tag and the source of funds.

City officials signed a deal with the Wings last year to move the team to the Memorial Auditorium in 2026 as part of the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center redevelopment. Part of the deal was to provide training facilities adjacent to the auditorium.

Delays with the redevelopment of the convention center pushed the Wings’ move from Arlington to downtown Dallas to 2027. Under the team’s contract, the city must provide a practice facility by the 2026 season. However, since the convention center won’t be finished by then, the Dallas City Council proposed alternative locations for the practice facility.

But all of a sudden, the council was staring at a plan to build a new practice facility in west Oak Cliff, eight miles from downtown. The council approved the new facility 12-2.

City staff said in a memo that the $55 million facility will be built with “private and economic development funds” and the Convention Center Construction Fund.

City officials said the new facility will also include a trail, soccer fields and space for local leagues. We’re not opposed to that, but it’s also fair to ask whether this kind of spending reflects the most responsible use of city funds intended for a downtown revitalization project. Could the city not offer an existing facility as practice space while the convention center is under construction? Is the city scaling back the auditorium overhaul or other parts of the convention center project to account for the $55 million going elsewhere?

All of this comes on the heels of a briefing at City Hall where city staff couldn’t give the council a clear answer on the approximate cost of the convention center.

Dallas has wisely jumped at the opportunity to position itself as a leader in women’s sports. We are rooting for the Wings’ success, but the council owes residents a better accounting of its spending decisions.