The Atlanta Dream are running out of time to settle where they will play their home games in the WNBA finals. According to the Guardian, State Farm Arena is off the table because of scheduling conflicts, and as of Sunday night neither the team nor the league had announced a replacement.
The Dream face the Golden State Valkyries in a best-of-seven series. Atlanta is due to host Games 3 and 4 on 22 and 24 October, plus Game 6 on 29 October if the series goes that far.
Why State Farm Arena is out
State Farm Arena, which seats 17,044 and is the home of the NBA's Atlanta Hawks, is booked on all three dates. The Guardian reported that a concert by the singer Sombr is scheduled there on 22 October, while the Hawks have regular-season games on 24 and 29 October.
The building has been a comfortable fit for the Dream this year. They played six of their 22 regular-season home games there and all three of their earlier home playoff games, drawing an average of 9,695 fans, according to the Guardian.
The options on the table
The Dream's usual home, Gateway Center Arena, holds only 3,500 for basketball, which makes it a difficult choice for a finals series. USA Today reported that the club has looked at bigger buildings, among them the 13,000-seat Gas South Arena and the 8,600-seat McCamish Pavilion at Georgia Tech. No agreement has been reached with either, per that report.
Dream president and chief operating officer Morgan Shaw Parker said last week the team was "finalizing details on their home venue and where we will be playing," the Guardian reported.
There is precedent for the move. The Guardian noted that the league has used alternate sites for finals games before because of scheduling clashes. Atlanta played a game of the 2013 finals at the arena now called Gas South Arena, and the Washington Mystics staged three games of the 2019 finals in their 4,200-seat home building.
A long-awaited finals run
The Dream are in the finals for the first time since 2013. They swept the Mystics in the first round and then beat the New York Liberty, the 2024 champions, in the semi-finals. The franchise reached the finals in 2010, 2011 and 2013 as well, but has never won a game in the championship series, the Guardian said.
The team announced last week that it will play at State Farm Arena full-time from 2027 under a multi-year agreement. That timing lines up with the WNBA's move to a 50-game regular season, which gives Atlanta 25 home dates.
The opposition and what comes next
Golden State will host Games 1 and 2, and Games 5 and 7 if necessary, at the 18,064-seat Chase Center. The Valkyries have sold out every home game this season and, per the Guardian, became the first women's professional sports team to pass $100m in annual revenue.
The contrast is plain: a sold-out, high-capacity home for one finalist, and an unresolved search for the other. Until the Dream and the WNBA name a venue for the 22 October opener of the Atlanta leg, the team's long-awaited finals home games remain without a confirmed home.
Reporting sources: Sport | The Guardian, “Atlanta Dream scrambling to find WNBA finals venue amid scheduling conflicts”.