The Atlanta Dream are actively looking for a venue to host their WNBA finals games against the Golden State Valkyries due to scheduling conflicts that have made State Farm Arena unavailable. The Dream is set to host Games 3 and 4 of the best-of-seven series on October 22 and 24, respectively, with a potential Game 6 on October 29. However, State Farm Arena, home to the NBA's Atlanta Hawks and seating 17,044 fans, is booked for a concert on October 22 and Hawks games on October 24 and 29.
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The Dream typically play at Gateway Center Arena in College Park, Georgia, which can accommodate only 3,500 spectators for basketball events. They have been considering larger venues such as the 13,000-seat Gas South Arena in Duluth and Georgia Tech’s 8,600-seat McCamish Pavilion, but no agreements have been reached yet, according to USA Today.
Morgan Shaw Parker, the Dream's president and chief operating officer, indicated last week that the team was working on finalizing the details of their home venue. As of Sunday night, a decision had not been announced by the Dream or the WNBA.
Throughout the season, Atlanta played six of their 22 regular-season home games at State Farm Arena and hosted all three of their previous playoff games there, with an average attendance of 9,695.
The WNBA finals are scheduled as follows:
- Saturday, October 17: Game 1 - Atlanta at Golden State, 3:30 PM (NBC)
- Monday, October 19: Game 2 - Atlanta at Golden State, 3:30 PM (USA)
- Thursday, October 22: Game 3 - Golden State at Atlanta, 8:00 PM (USA)
- Saturday, October 24: Game 4 - Golden State at Atlanta, 3:30 PM (NBC)
- Monday, October 26: Game 5 - Atlanta at Golden State, 8:00 PM (USA)*
- Thursday, October 29: Game 6 - Golden State at Atlanta, 8:00 PM (USA)*
- Saturday, October 31: Game 7 - Atlanta at Golden State, 8:00 PM (USA)**
(*if necessary)
The Dream have announced plans to transition to State Farm Arena full-time starting in 2027 under a multi-year agreement, coinciding with the WNBA's move to a 50-game regular season.
The Valkyries will host Games 1 and 2 at the 18,064-seat Chase Center in San Francisco and potentially host Games 5 and 7 there as well. They have experienced a successful season, selling out every home game and becoming the first women's professional sports team to generate over $100 million in annual revenue.
Historically, the WNBA has held finals games at different venues due to scheduling conflicts. For instance, Atlanta hosted a finals game at Gas South Arena in 2013, and the Washington Mystics played at their smaller home arena during the 2019 finals.
This marks the Dream's first finals appearance since 2013, having advanced after sweeping the Mystics in the first round and defeating the New York Liberty in the semi-finals. The Dream reached the finals three times prior, in 2010, 2011, and 2013, but have yet to win a game in the championship series.