STWF Sports | ARLINGTON, Texas | Jan. 21, 2026 — The WNBA officially lifted the curtain on its 2026 regular season schedule Wednesday, unveiling a landmark slate that will see each team play 44 games between May and September. The expanded schedule reflects the league’s continued growth, rising popularity, and increasing national footprint. Few franchises embody that momentum more clearly than the Dallas Wings, who simultaneously announced plans to bring three marquee home games to downtown Dallas this summer.
Entering their 11th season in North Texas, the Wings will begin the 2026 campaign on the road against the Indiana Fever on Saturday, May 9, with tipoff scheduled for noon CT. Dallas will then return home for its season opener at College Park Center in Arlington on Tuesday, May 12, hosting the Atlanta Dream at 7 p.m. That contest opens a three-game homestand, followed by matchups against the Minnesota Lynx on May 14 and the Washington Mystics on May 18, both tipping at 7 p.m.
The early schedule sets the tone for what promises to be one of the most ambitious seasons in franchise history. Dallas will once again relocate select home games to American Airlines Center, capitalizing on the unprecedented attendance success the team enjoyed there last season. The Wings will host three games at AAC in 2026: July 12 against the Chicago Sky, Aug. 7 versus the Golden State Valkyries, and Aug. 20 against Indiana.
Those dates build on a historic moment from the 2025 season, when Dallas and Indiana played before a sold-out crowd of 20,409 at American Airlines Center on June 27. That night established a franchise single-game attendance record, became the largest crowd in Texas WNBA history, and marked just the eighth regular-season game in league history to surpass 20,000 fans. The decision to return to AAC underscores both the Wings’ growing fan base and the league’s broader momentum.
From a competitive standpoint, the 2026 schedule presents a rigorous test. Dallas will play four-game series — two home and two away — against Western Conference rivals Seattle and Minnesota, while facing the remaining 12 teams in three-game series. The Wings will also help usher in a new chapter of league history, facing two expansion franchises debuting in 2026: the Portland Fire and the Toronto Tempo. Dallas will meet Portland for the first time on June 13 in Oregon and travel north to face Toronto on July 5 in the franchises’ inaugural matchup.
The season also marks a significant transition on the sideline. The 2026 campaign will be the first under veteran head coach Jose Fernandez, who was hired in October after spending the previous 25 seasons at the University of South Florida. Fernandez brings nearly 500 career wins, 19 postseason appearances, and a proven ability to develop talent, having guided more than 100 players into professional basketball careers worldwide. His résumé also includes international success, earning two gold medals as an assistant coach with USA Basketball’s U18 and U19 National Teams.
Optimism surrounding the franchise is further amplified by its recent draft fortune. A year after winning the WNBA Draft Lottery and selecting Paige Bueckers No. 1 overall, Dallas once again secured the top pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft after winning the lottery this past November. Bueckers delivered a record-setting rookie season in Dallas, capped by WNBA Rookie of the Year honors, and quickly emerged as one of the league’s most marketable and impactful stars.
Off the court, fan support continues to surge. The Wings have sold out season ticket memberships in back-to-back seasons, including in record time prior to the 2025 campaign. With only a limited number of season tickets remaining for 2026, demand reflects a franchise that has firmly established itself within the DFW sports landscape.
Additional schedule notes add intrigue. For the first time since 2018, Dallas will both open and close the season on the road. The longest homestand spans six games from Aug. 20 through Sept. 19, while the longest road stretch includes four games in early July. The WNBA Commissioner’s Cup will run June 1–17, and the season will pause in early September for the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup in Germany.
As the WNBA continues to expand its reach, the 2026 season represents a pivotal moment. For the Dallas Wings, the combination of a demanding schedule, a new head coach, elite young talent, and record-breaking fan engagement positions the franchise at the forefront of the league’s next era.
