When women’s basketball phenoms Paige Bueckers and Caitlin Clark met for the first time as professionals, it happened on a Sunday afternoon in Indianapolis and not on a Friday night in Dallas.
That was not the initial plan.
For months, fans looked forward to “A Night in Dallas,” the June 27 matchup between Bueckers’ Dallas Wings and Clark’s Indiana Fever at American Airlines Center. The game was set to feature the WNBA’s last three No. 1 draft picks in rookie Bueckers, 2024 Rookie of the Year Clark and Aliyah Boston, whom the Fever selected in 2023.
But the game, which the Fever won 94-86 despite a ferocious comeback by the Wings and a 27-point performance by Bueckers, didn’t include the league’s biggest draw in Clark, who was ruled out with a groin injury.
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Fans wouldn’t see Bueckers and Clark battle it out, but 20,409 of them — including big names like Kyrie Irving and Cooper Flagg — still showed up to the Dallas Mavericks’ home arena, which hosted its first WNBA game and will host its second Friday.
Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers (5) gets a high-five from Dallas Mavericks’ Kyrie Irving after an WNBA basketball game against the Indiana Fever at American Airlines Center, Friday, June 27, 2025, in Dallas.
Chitose Suzuki / Staff Photographer
The Wings announced July 7, just over a week after recording one of the highest attended games in WNBA history, that their Aug. 1 matchup with the Fever would move from UT Arlington’s College Park Center, where the team plays home games, to AAC.
“That’s going to be cool. It was a great first experience,” Wings star Arike Ogunbowale said at a recent practice. “The city came out for sure. Definitely cool to run it back.”
Clark played Bueckers and the Wings for the first time this season on July 13, recording a 14-point, 13-assist double-double in the Fever’s 102-83 home win, but she’s out again with a groin injury she suffered July 15 in a win over the Connecticut Sun.
While fans likely won’t see Clark and Bueckers compete on the big stage, simply playing at AAC is a win for the Wings (8-20), who established a franchise regular-season record for attendance in their last outing at the venue.
“The business success was remarkable in terms of the revenue we could generate off the game,” Wings CEO and managing partner Greg Bibb told The Dallas Morning News. “There was no plan before June 27 to play the second game at American Airlines Center this year, but it was such a success that we pivoted quickly.”
The moment helped Dallas get to know the Wings, who moved to North Texas in 2016 and are based in Arlington. The organization is hoping to win over more fans in Dallas as they rebuild and prepare for an official move to the city in the coming seasons
“We were excited to bring the team to Dallas officially for the first time for a regular season WNBA game and we felt like it would give us an opportunity to say hello to the market in the market,” Bibb said. “It would give us a little sense of what our future is going to hold for us as we look forward to moving there full time in a couple of seasons.”
The Wings will make a partial move to Dallas next season when their new practice facility opens at Joey Georgusis Park in far west Oak Cliff, but they won’t play games in the city until at least 2027.
City officials and the Wings had an agreement for the team to move to Memorial Auditorium in downtown Dallas by 2026, but delays to the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center redevelopment have stalled the transition.
Dallas leaders have been firm in their support of the Wings, who sold out season tickets in 2024 and 2025 and have seen a surge in popularity with the arrival of Bueckers.
Playing at AAC for a second time will only further boost the Wings’ profile, and that’s part of why Bibb and the organization worked hard to make “A Night in Dallas” happen once more.
Right after the conclusion of the June 27 game, Bibb said he caught up with American Airlines Center general manager Dave Brown, who agreed the night had been incredible.
Bibb expressed interest in playing a second game there and Brown said AAC shared his interest. So Bibb worked with College Park Center to reach an agreement to move the game as the organization sorted out other logistics.
“We quickly engaged that following week with American Airlines Center and got a contract done to move the game,” Bibb said.
Fans who had already purchased tickets for the game at College Park Center received refunds, and season ticker holders who purchased group tickets through the Wings ticket office will have their tickets relocated to a comparable location at American Airlines Center, which will welcome the Wings for what they hope is another historic night.
“I think nights like June 27 have a ripple effect,” Bibb said. “We were able to engage a lot of new fans on June 27 that haven’t been to a WNBA game before, haven’t experienced the Wings brand before. … It creates a ripple effect that goes way beyond just that one moment in time, that one night. And I think that has contributed to the momentum we’ve felt throughout this year.”
Photos: Dallas Wings, Paige Bueckers fall to Indiana Fever, minus Caitlin Clark, at AAC
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