When the Phoenix Mercury’s Kahleah Copper and Alyssa Thomas stepped off the plane for their preseason game versus the Chicago Sky, they weren’t greeted by the shimmering Chicago skyline in the background – instead, they got a view of a wide-open sky. The two teams’ first game WNBA preseason game of 2026 wasn’t hosted in Phoenix or Chicago, but rather at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where Mercury head coach Nate Tibbetts’ father coached high school and collegiate women’s basketball, winning 11 high school state championships over a 30+ year coaching career.

As part of the engagement, the Mercury team, including players and coaches, hosted an all-girls basketball clinic for South Dakota youth the day prior – bringing women’s basketball to an area where many girls don’t have access to see professional sports in-person.

The game sold out the 3,250-seat Sanford Pentagon, which also hosts the MNBA G League’s Sioux Falls Skyforce. Kahleah Copper arrived at the game in coach Tibbetts’ college jersey from the University of South Dakota, where he spent his college career as a Coyote.

This game is part of the W’s larger effort to expand women’s basketball to new locations. The Lynx playing the Nigerian National Team in Kansas City, Missouri, later this week, and the Wings-Aces pre-season matchup on May 3 is headed to Austin, Texas – two cities that previously submitted bids for WNBA teams but were passed up by the league. 

By strategically placing pre-season games in these markets, the WNBA is continuing to build audiences in markets that have already shown their hand, and bringing professional sports to girls who may not have had access to see women’s sports anywhere but on a screen. Overall, these are great moves for the league, and for the broader sport, as well.