As the WNBA Finals shift to Atlanta for the next two games, Golden State Valkyries fans will need to find a place to watch the game - and the team is hoping to help turn the Bay Area violet.
Valkyries spokesperson Marina Bain confirmed to SFGATE that the team sent swag to "each and every one" of the 60 establishments in the "Valkyries Bar Network" throughout Northern California. The network includes more than two dozen locations across San Francisco, about a dozen in Oakland and locales in Berkeley, Dublin, Napa, Pacifica, San Rafael, Santa Clara and Santa Rosa. There's even one in Lincoln, about 30 minutes north of Sacramento.
Among the bars included are: multiple locations for Bay Area breweries Barebottle, Fieldwork and Standard Deviant; Rikki's in the Castro neighborhood, Mother in the Mission, the Green Heron on Haight Street (which says it gives $1 off to any patron wearing Valkyries gear) and Oakland United Beer Works, which offers a 10% discount during games. (For a full list of participating bars, visit the Valkyries Bar Network website.)
In an email to SFGATE, Bain said the team didn't have a specific count of how many T-shirts they've sent out to various locations. But it appears to have been a considerable volume. SFGATE stopped by North Beach Cantina this week and saw about a dozen boxes of T-shirts stacked up inside the restaurant. North Beach Cantina also had pins, rally towels and stickers available for free for patrons.
Others on social media said they already received free shirts at a variety of locations throughout the Bay Area during the Finals. That was even as "Ballhalla" was packed for Game 1 and Game 2 in San Francisco. Chase Center could be packed again this week, even with the team on the road. The Valkyries are hosting an official watch party inside Chase Center for all of the road games in the Finals.
Doors open one hour before tipoff in Atlanta - so at 4 p.m. on Wednesday for Game 3, 9 a.m. on Saturday for Game 4 and 4 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 29, for Game 6, if that game is necessary. The team is charging fans a flat fee of $25 to watch inside the building, with net proceeds going to the Golden State Community Fund. Because of the indoor watch parties, Golden State won't be showing the games on the big screen in the Thrive City plaza.
The Valkyries sold out all 50 regular season and playoff games they have played inside "Ballhalla" over their two years of existence, so a big crowd won't exactly be a surprise. Still, it sure would be something to sell out the arena even when the team is playing on the other side of the country.
More Valkyries
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- Conservative media can't stop complaining about Valkyries, Dream skipping anthem
- Kaitlyn Chen is the Valkyries' 'goofy' secret weapon
- The Valkyries tripled down on a hotly-debated hoops strategy. It worked.
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This article originally published at Valkyries send free merch to 60 NorCal bars for WNBA Finals watch parties.