Dallas guard Arike Ogunbowale, No. 24 in white, draws a foul on Seattle center Ezi Magbegor during a WNBA basketball game on June. The Wings take on the Washington Mystic Saturday, June 26 at College Park Center in Dallas’ annual Pride game. (Bettina Hansen/The Seattle Times via Associated Press)

Local WNBA team has celebrated Pride every year since moving to Arlington

DAVID TAFFET | Senior Staff Writer
taffet@dallasvoice.com

One professional sports team in Arlington is rolling out the red carpet this month and welcoming the LGBTQ community to its games with open arms — just as they’ve done every June since moving to Dallas.

The Dallas Wings Pride game takes place at noon on Saturday, June 26, against the Washington Mystics. The WNBA game will be nationally broadcast on CBS.

Voices of Hope, the Cathedral of Hope choir conducted by the Turtle Creek Chorale’s Sean Baugh, will sing the national anthem. And according to Jordan Baccus, senior manager of group sales and community engagement for the Wings, “We are also giving back to some different organizations that … help out the LGBTQ community.”

There will be a few special additions in the arena that have not been seen before anywhere, Baccus added, saying, “I’m very excited for our fans to see this.” But she stopped short of giving any more clues about what those special additions would be.

The Wings are participating in two other Pride events this year as well — Dining with Pride and the Pride Game Speaker Series.

Dine with Pride Courtside is a virtual event the team is holding in conjunction with Human Rights Campaign on June 25 at 6:30 p.m. The event includes a panel discussion and Q&A with Wings players and coaches and HRC staff. There will be auction items and door prizes as well. Tickets are $40.

The Wings’ annual Pride Game Speaker Series takes place on Wednesday, June 23, at 6:30 p.m. and is free. Panelists include local community leaders. Anyone interested in attending can contact Baccus by phone at 817-900-3014 or by email at jbaccus@dallaswings.com.

When ordering tickets to the Wings’ Pride game on June 26, use the promo code Pride21.

Wings games take place at College Park Center, 600 S. Center St. on the University of Texas Arlington campus. From I-30, take the Center Street exit coming from either Fort Worth or Dallas and go south. Park in the garages before the arena.