The Chicago Sky have decided to not move into the team’s still under-construction practice facility during the 2026 season. Instead, the team will practice and host shootarounds at Wintrust Arena, the Sky’s home arena.
“There’s value in practicing where you play, and without the facility being at 100 percent completion we feel like it’s best to make sure when we go in, we go in giving them the experience that we wanted them to have from day one,” Jeff Pagliocca, the Sky’s general manager, told reporters.
The Sky broke ground on the new facility in October of 2024, and its completion was part of the vision sold to free agents like Skylar Diggins and Azura Stevens during the Sky’s free agency period. All along, the team said the practice facility was due to open late spring or early summer.
Diggins spoke earlier this month about how the lack of a practice facility has been a disappointment for her, even though she understands the delays.
“I was thinking we were going to be in a practice facility, and other things that were told to me. And that’s not been the case,” Diggins said. “There’s been things outside of people’s control that I understand, too, a lot of moving parts. Lots of places I’ve been were in that process as well, so I get it. But it’s hard to perform at a certain level without those [resources].”
Rep The IX Sports at your next game!
Shop the logo collection or special “Women’s Sports are Front Page News” collection now on Shopify.
The facility, which will be in Bedford Park, southwest of the city near Midway Airport, was originally set to be around 40,000 square feet. It grew to nearly 80,000 feet with player requests including a content studio.
“The delays are frustrating, but there’s challenges in construction, weather, supply chain, materials, things that arise, I’ve learned,” Pagliocca said. “When the building started around 40,000 square feet, and it’s going to be probably close to [80,000] when all is said and done. It’s a pretty significant size difference, which obviously could change a timetable and timeline.”
Part of the WNBA collective bargaining agreement signed earlier this year called for things like cold tubs, IV treatments and massage therapists. Pagliocca said all of the things guaranteed by the CBA are possible at Wintrust Arena, which is the full-time home of DePaul University’s men’s and women’s basketball teams.
Pagliocca said that part of his job was to keep the players apprised of what was happening with the facility, as well as the league.
“We’ve been transparent with all parties, and I care a lot about the players’ opinions,” he told reporters. “We sit down as a team regularly, and I give them updates, and this is something that we were very excited about, and we remain very excited about it. It’s frustrating, but you know we’re going to get there, and it’ll be a couple months. We’re looking forward to having it in the off season for players in market.”
