Atlanta’s “home” arena is still in question for the WNBA Finals.
The Dream said Monday morning that they’re still working on finalizing a venue to host their home games against the Golden State Valkyries in Games 3 and 4, and if necessary, Game 6.
State Farm Arena in downtown Atlanta, the 17,000-seat venue where the Dream moved all of its first-round and semifinal games this season and sold out five of six regular-season games, is not available. The arena, which is owned by the Atlanta-Fulton County Recreation Authority and operated by the NBA’s Hawks, isn’t available on Oct. 22 because of a concert by Sombr, and the Hawks play there against the Houston Rockets on Oct. 24 and the Cleveland Cavaliers on Oct. 29. The Dream will play all of their home games there next season.
The Gateway Center Arena, where the Dream have played the majority of their home games since 2021, is available but would be the smallest arena to host a WNBA Finals in the last decade, excluding games during the pandemic “bubble” season. With a capacity of only 3,500 seats in the arena outside Atlanta, the Dream would lose out on ticket sales. It also doesn’t have any suites or premium-level seating like most arenas, especially for a finals.
The Dream sold tickets for mostly the lower bowl in the semifinals at State Farm Arena, curtaining off almost all of the upper bowl, but still welcoming about 9,745 fans on average.
Other larger venues are potentially available in the area.
Gas South Arena, located roughly 30 miles outside Atlanta, seats 13,000 and hosted the women’s ACC tournament last season. A Gas South Arena spokesperson said the arena is available on Oct. 22 and 24, but the spokesperson declined to share whether the arena had any contact with the Dream regarding those dates.
Georgia Tech’s McCamish Pavilion, where the Dream played in 2017 and 2018, is available on all three dates according to athletic schedules. Georgia Tech didn’t respond immediately for comment.
Wherever the Dream play, it probably won’t have the same finals vibes as State Farm Center … and they probably won’t enjoy the same home-court advantage the Golden State Valkyries will be treated to at “Ballhalla” (aka San Francisco’s Chase Center, which seats 18,064).
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Atlanta Dream, WNBA
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