The Atlanta Dream made it to the WNBA Finals, which is obviously a good thing.
In fact, it’s so good that many fans will surely want to come out and support the team when it hosts Games 3 and 4, plus Game 6 if needed, against the Golden State Valkyries.
And that could be an issue. Gateway Center Arena in College Park, Ga., where the team has played most of its home games since 2021, seats only 3,500 people for basketball games.
The Dream played six regular-season games and all three home playoff games this season at the Atlanta Hawks’ State Farm Arena, which holds around 17,000 and will be the Dream’s official home venue starting next season. But that facility is booked for all three dates the team would need it, with a Sombr concert slated for Oct. 22 and Hawks regular-season games on Oct. 24 and 29.
So, what’s a franchise playing in its first WNBA Finals since 2013 to do?
It’s not a rhetorical question. The team hasn’t announced where their home games in the series will be played, and tickets for the games in Atlanta have yet to go on sale.
Last week, Dream president Morgan Shaw Parker said they were “finalizing details” on where the team’s home games will be played during the Finals. Efforts to move the games to larger area venues, such as Gas South Arena (around 13,000 seats) and Georgia Tech’s McCamish Pavilion (8,600 seats), have hit snags, according to USA Today.
The Dream did not immediately respond Monday to questions from The Times. The WNBA referred questions back to the Dream.
The Valkyries play their home games at Chase Center in San Francisco, which seats around 18,000 people. A Doja Cat concert originally scheduled for Oct. 19 was rescheduled to Oct. 25 to avoid conflict with Game 2 of the WNBA Finals.
If the Dream can’t relocate the games, this wouldn’t be the first time WNBA Finals were held in a small venue: In 2019, the Washington Mystics hosted three games at their home venue (known now as CareFirst Arena), which seats about 4,200 people.
Led by Rhyne Howard, Allisha Gray, former UCLA star Jordin Canada and 2026 defensive player of the year Angel Reese, fourth-seeded Atlanta swept through the first two rounds of the playoffs, dismissing No. 5 Washington and No. 8 New York.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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