The first career match of three Indiana rookies

The WNBA Dallas Wings will have “made history before their regular season even begins” with a sold-out preseason exhibition against the Indiana Fever on Friday, just “one example of how the Wings have capitalized on the tidal wave-like momentum surrounding women’s basketball,” according to Shawn McFarland of the DALLAS MORNING NEWS. Wings President and CEO Greg Bibb said they are “having a moment.” Bibb said, “I think we’ve been building toward this for a long, long time. Certainly what happened — the Caitlin Clark effect — brought in a lot of new people over the last six months to a year, but this has been building incrementally for a number of years now.” Resale tickets for Friday’s exhibition at UT-Arlington’s College Park Center start at $43.30 and reach $649.50. The Wings are scheduled to host the Fever and Clark again on July 17 in the regular season, and they have “already sold out tickets” to it — and the cheapest resale tickets on their official website start at $134.23 for balcony seats and reach as high as $703.62. Bibb: “Other than three times over the course of the next four or five months, I’m (Clark’s) biggest fan.” On Wednesday, the Dallas City Council approved a deal to pay the Wings $19M in incentives to move to downtown Dallas from Arlington starting in 2026. The 15-year-deal would relocate the Wings to the Dallas Memorial Auditorium. Bibb: “Every year the business has gotten bigger. More tickets sold, more corporate partnership, more social and visual engagement, more broadcasts. Now you have this convergence of both of those things happening, and that’s what results in sold-out preseason games”

FIRST LOOK: In Indianapolis, Zion Brown wrote this will be the Fever’s “first chance to see how this year’s team performs.” The Fever “want to start the 2024 season off right.” As has “become common when Clark visits,” College Park Center “will be packed.” That means the first game in the careers of Indiana’s three rookies “will have an added pressure to them.” Fever G Celeste Taylor said she is “kind of one to not pay attention to the crowd.” Taylor: “It’s kind of hard when they’re so loud.” She added, “It’s another game. The nerves are going to be there, so it’s just about playing through them.” Starting Friday, the Fever “will be playing in front of large crowds all season long.” Whether it’ll be the “fans in the stands or the intensity other teams bring against the Fever, every game will have its challenges.” Brown noted the Fever “spent this week preparing for it.” With Clark being the first overall pick, opponents “will do all they can to limit her effectiveness.” Brown wrote the Fever coaching staff “wants to keep Clark calm with the high expectations surrounding her” (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 5/2).

The Wings are scheduled to host the Fever and G Caitlin Clark on Friday and again on July 17 in the regular season