Atlanta Dream to host WNBA Finals home games at larger arena after scheduling swap

After the Atlanta Dream reached the WNBA Finals last week, the celebration was interrupted by a potential problem: Rather than play the championship series’ home games at the city’s large downtown arena, scheduling conflicts appeared to force them to be hosted at a tiny arena. On Tuesday, that scenario was avoided when the WNBA and NBA announced that after several logistical fixes, the Dream will host Games 3 and 4 of their WNBA Finals matchup against the Golden State Valkyries at Atlanta’s 17,004-seat State Farm Arena, rather than a 3,500-seat venue south of downtown. “The change of venue dramatically expands the seating capacity and ensures that the Dream will be able to provide an extraordinary atmosphere for the first WNBA Finals game to be played in the Atlanta market since 2013,” WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said in a statement. “We are pleased that thousands more fans across the Southeast region will have the opportunity to experience the ultimate WNBA action — the WNBA Finals — in person.” Since 2021, the Dream have played its virtually all of its regular-season games at the 3,500-seat Gateway Center Arena about 30 minutes south of downtown, the smallest home arena in the WNBA, by capacity. During this postseason, though, the Dream had shifted all home games to State Farm Arena, the home of the NBA’s Hawks, to an average attendance of 9,745. The location shift was a preview of a multi-year deal that will see the Dream play home games full-time at State Farm Arena beginning next season. After the Dream swept the New York Liberty to reach their first WNBA Finals since 2013 last week, however, conflicts immediately arose: a Sombr concert was set at State Farm Arena on Oct. 22, the date of Game 3, and a Hawks game was scheduled for Oct. 24, the date of Game 4. After multiple days in which the location of those games remained in flux, a fix was announced Tuesday that will keep the Dream playing in the larger, downtown venue. Game 3 will now be played Oct. 21, at 8 p.m. ET, one day earlier than initially scheduled. The game will air on USA Network and CNBC and stream on Peacock. Game 4 will take place still on Oct. 24, but will tip off at 1 p.m. ET as part of a double-header after the Hawks agreed to tip off their own game 30 minutes later, at 8:30 p.m. NBC will broadcast the game, which also will air on Peacock. (NBC Sports shares a parent company with NBC News.) One potential conflict remains, however: Game 6 of the series would be in Atlanta on Oct. 29, the same day the Hawks play a home game at 7 p.m. ET. “Ensuring that Games 3 and 4 of the Finals will be played at State Farm Arena is an important moment for the Dream’s players, fans, the organization and the city of Atlanta and is a testament to the extraordinary momentum of the team, women’s basketball and the growing impact of women’s sports,” the Atlanta Dream and Atlanta Hawks said in a joint statement Tuesday.