Bringing Hoops to Fair Park

By Stephen Hunt

For a third straight year, Athletes Unlimited (AU) will hold court at Dallas Fair Park Coliseum. However, unlike 2021 and 2022, when volleyball occupied center stage, this time AU basketball will be front and center for five weeks between February 23 and March 25, 2023.

“We’re excited to be back in Dallas,” said Matt Biggers, AU’s Senior Director, Marketing. “Volleyball will be moving somewhere else and to the fall. We’re excited to be bringing basketball to this market. First year [of AU basketball in Las Vegas, 2022] was awesome. This year, we have a better group of players, more experienced. We’re excited to see the level of competition continue to increase.”

Eighteen of the 44 players participating in AU basketball 2023 played in the WNBA last season, including three (Veronica Burton, Allisha Gray, and Isabelle Harrison, the 2022 AU Basketball Defensive Player of the Year), who suited up for the Dallas Wings.

Participating for a second straight year is a name very familiar to local basketball fans-Odyssey Sims, a former national high school player of the year at Irving MacArthur. Sims was also a four-time All-Big 12 Conference selection at Baylor, helping lead the Bears to the 2012 national championship. The 2014 Big 12 Player of the Year has since starred professionally overseas and in the WNBA.

Prior to each week, four captains, who after week one will be determined by AU’s top four in points, will select 11 players for their team’s roster. Over the ensuing three to four days, each team will play three times in doubleheaders on each day of competition.

After the conclusion of each day’s doubleheader, fans can interact with their favorite players at postgame autograph sessions and shoot hoops on the court. AU basketball will also have several giveaways scattered throughout its five-week schedule like rally towels, aluminum water bottles, bucket hats, and replica champion’s medals.

AU basketball 2023 will also host theme nights honoring the Wings, Black Women’s History Night, International Women’s Day, Early 2000s Night, Special Olympics, AU Volleyball, Athlete’s Causes, Pride Night, and Fan Appreciation Night.

“The level of fan engagement is extremely high. But at the same time, it’s a really intimate experience,” Biggers said. “You get the opportunity to be close to the action. A lot of times if you’re in 18,000-seat arenas, you can be pretty far from the action. Here, everybody is pretty close. The opportunities to meet players and get autographs, it’s a really cool experience fans don’t get at other pro sports.”

This basketball season also marks the launch of AU’s Fantasy League, which is free to play and will also be offered for AU’s other sports of lacrosse, AUX softball, softball, and volleyball. Fantasy players can win prizes like signed merchandise from AU and draft the four players each week that they think will score the most points. It’s all free, so it’s an easy way for people to get involved, follow closer, choose their favorite players, and really test their knowledge on who’s going perform week in and week out.”

Between March 31 and April 2, American Airlines Center in downtown Dallas will host the 2023 NCAA Women’s Final Four and championship games competitors, for having the top team for a week or by winning the season championship. “We have fans all over the country,” Biggers said. “Fantasy is just another engagement opportunity for our fans in Dallas and across the country. Our model sets up perfectly for it. We crown an individual champion based on our leaderboard in the confines of a team sport, which aligns very well with fantasy.”

“We re-draft our teams every week, so our captains, which are our top four on the leaderboard each week, they’re going through the same process. They’re drafting who they think will perform the best to become the best team. Our fans can do the same thing, be a pseudo-captain of their own team for NCAA Division II and III women’s basketball. The debut of AU basketball at Fair Park Coliseum provides a nice lead-in to what will be a local celebration of women’s hoops in the coming weeks.

“We’re excited. The Wings have been in the market for seven years and they’re partners of ours. We end the week before the Final Four gets into town,” Biggers said. “Dallas really is the epicenter of women’s basketball. We’re proud to be part of that to continue to shine a bigger light on women’s basketball to help it continue to grow so rapidly in this country.”

For more information on AU basketball, visit www.auprosports.com