The WNBA team relocating to North Texas will be called the Dallas Wings. The franchise moved from Tulsa, Oklahoma, after six seasons and will play at the 7,000-seat arena on the University of Texas at Arlington campus.
The University of Texas at Arlington will be the new home of the WNBA's Tulsa Shock -- now the Dallas Wings.
Bill Cameron, the majority owner of the Tulsa Shock, announced in July that at the end of the season the team was moving from Oklahoma to North Texas. On Monday, Cameron also announced the team's new name.
"Core to our brand identity is the Pegasus. If you lived in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, in the Metroplex, my guess is you know what the Pegasus means to this community. It's a durable icon that represents this community,"said President and CEO David Swartzell. "What's a distinction of the Pegasus are those powerful wings that give it it's energy and lift. It's those powerful wings that ultimately personify what our team is all about and what we want to be, which is an inspirational force."
During the 2016 season the Dallas Wings and will play 17 home games at UTA's College Park Center, a $78 million arena built in 2012 that can seat about 7,000 fans.
The new location is home for at least one player, Odyssey Sims of Irving.
"This is where I'm from ... I look forward to just playing here; the market is going to be great. We're all excited, I can't emphasize that enough," said Sims. "Everyone ... our teammates, they're excited to see that we're the Dallas Wings -- very different, but I like it."
When inevitably asked why a team playing in Arlington would be named the Dallas Wings, Swartzell had the following to say:
"If you going to go drive a successful, professional sports franchise you have to lean into the brand that basically conveys success in the marketplace. There's no question that Dallas is an 800-pound gorilla when it comes to that. it's internationally known. You can go anywhere in the world and when you say Dallas, people know where Dallas is. That's been helped by TV shows like Dallas and it's been prompted by the Dallas Cowboys -- I mean, there's a lot there to the brand. We want to drive the success of the team and we believe that leaning into that already established, very successful brand is important."
The Wings, who as the Shock moved from Detroit to Tulsa in 2010, are the first WNBA team to be based in Dallas-Fort Worth. Additionally, the Wings are the first women's professional team to play in the area since the Women's Professional Basketball League's Dallas Diamonds played in Dallas from 1979-1981.
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Texas is now home to two WNBA teams -- the other being the San Antonio Stars.
The WNBA season typically runs from May through September.
