Atlanta Dream Without Home Venue for WNBA Finals — SkimNews
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- Atlanta Dream had not determined their home venue for the WNBA Finals as of Sunday night, with Games 3, 4, and 6 (if necessary) scheduled for Oct. 22, 24, and 29.
- Gateway Center Arena at College Park, the Dream's home since 2021 with a capacity of just 3,500, is considered too small for a Finals series.
- Morgan Shaw Parker, Dream president and COO, told media the team was "finalizing details on their home venue and where we will be playing," with neither the Dream nor the WNBA offering further details when contacted by ESPN on Sunday.
- State Farm Arena in downtown Atlanta (capacity 17,044) — where the Dream played six regular-season games and all three prior playoff home games this year — is booked on all three needed dates: Oct. 22 by a Sombr concert and Oct. 24 and 29 by Atlanta Hawks games.
- Golden State Valkyries will host Games 1, 2, and 5/7 (if necessary) at the 18,064-seat Chase Center in San Francisco.
- The Dream plan to relocate full-time to State Farm Arena in 2027, having previously played there (then Philips Arena) from 2008 to 2016 and again in 2019 before moving to the much smaller Gateway Center in 2021.
Why it matters: A Finals series typically draws a crowd far beyond Gateway Center's 3,500 seats, and the Dream's preferred larger venue, State Farm Arena, is locked up by a concert and Hawks games on all three home dates. With tip-off days away, the Dream must find a third option or risk underwhelming attendance in the league's showcase event — a problem rooted in the same venue-size mismatch that already prompted the franchise to announce a 2027 move to State Farm.
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