The Atlanta Dream are locked in for two WNBA Finals home games next week, but here is the kicker: they still have no idea where those contests will actually go down. We are talking about the WNBA Finals, folks, a best-of-seven series against the Golden State Valkyries kicking off this Saturday, and the Dream are scrambling to find a court for Games 3 and 4 scheduled for October 22 and 24.
State Farm Arena: Booked Solid For Finals Week
You know the Dream would love to host at State Farm Arena. It seats over 17,000 fans, making it a proper Finals venue. But that place is a ghost for the Dream right now. Game 3 on October 22? A singer named Sombr has a concert booked for that night. Seriously? Then for Game 4 on October 24, the Hawks have their home opener. The WNBA scheduled a 3:30 p.m. EDT start for Game 4, but that still is not enough time to flip the arena from a WNBA game to an NBA home opener. If the series goes to Game 6 on October 29, State Farm Arena is out then too, with the Hawks having another home game. This is wild. Most of their regular season games were at Gateway Center Arena, which only holds a measly 3,500 fans. They did move six regular season games and all three previous home playoff games to State Farm, and inked a multi-year deal to play all their games there next season. But for the Finals, it is not working out.
Scrambling For A Home Court Advantage
It is not a great look when you are in the Finals and your president, Morgan Shaw Parker, can only say the team is “finalizing details on their home venue and where we will be playing.” Yikes. Imagine trying to get hyped for a championship game when you do not even know where to tell fans to show up. This is not totally unprecedented, though. Back in 2019, the Washington Mystics had to host three WNBA Finals games in their own home venue, which barely seated over 4,000 fans. So, yeah, it happens. Atlanta does have other bigger options like Georgia Tech or Gas South Arena, which hosted the ACC Tournament last year and even a Finals game for the Dream in 2013. Hopefully, they can figure something out quickly.
Not Alone In The Venue Shuffle
Believe it or not, the Golden State Valkyries also had their own headache for Game 2 on October 19. A Doja Cat concert was booked at Chase Center. But they actually managed to move it! The concert is now set for October 25. So, the Valkyries figured it out. Now the pressure is on the Dream to deliver for their fans and find a proper home to fight for a championship. With Game 3 looming on October 22, time is absolutely ticking.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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