The Wings will play “nearly all” of their 2026 home games in Arlington despite an agreement with Dallas saying that they would “use the American Airlines Center as their full-time home arena,” according to Everton Bailey Jr. of the DALLAS MORNING NEWS. The team’s schedule has “most home games” at Univ. of Texas at Arlington’s College Park Center, the team’s home since 2016, with only three of the 22 contests at the AAC. That schedule “contradicts a 2024 resident use and incentive agreement” with Dallas, which guaranteed AAC use if the city could not deliver a renovated Memorial Auditorium in time for the start of the 2026 season, and it is not “expected to open until 2028.” A review of the Wings’ 2026 home schedule and the AAC’s online event calendar “shows at least 15 additional dates between May and August when it might have been possible for the Wings to play at the AAC because no other events are listed.” Dallas has already paid the Wings $18M of a $19M incentive tied to relocating to the city. City spokesperson Rick Ericson confirmed the city is “current on payments under the agreement and the Dallas Wings organization has delivered what it promised.” When asked why the Wings are not playing more at the AAC this season, Ericson said the city is “actively working with the Dallas Wings to solidify a contingency plan for the team’s 2027 home venue” (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 4/3).
