WNBA Capably Solves Logistical Problem

The WNBA was staring down the following issue: After the first two games of the Finals, beginning Saturday at the raucous 18,064-seat building which the Golden State Valkyries have sold out for two straight years, the series would move to Atlanta, where the Dream’s primary arena, Gateway Center, seats just 3,500. The Dream have so far played their three home playoff games at the larger State Farm Arena, the approximately 17,044-seat venue where the Hawks play. (The two teams do not share an owner.) They also played five sellout games there in the regular season: two against the Las Vegas Aces, two against the Indiana Fever, and one against the Chicago Sky, Angel Reese's former team. Last week, the team announced that they’ll play all their home games at the larger venue beginning next season. But with a Sombr concert scheduled for the night of Game 3, and the Hawks home opener scheduled for the night of Game 4, it looked like the Dream might have to play these games in their usual smaller building—kind of a bummer for the WNBA Finals. WNBA teams have often been caught in such scheduling pickles. This year, the Valkyries got a Doja Cat concert bumped by a week when they made the Finals, but last year, they played their only home playoff game in San Jose because their home arena had already been booked for the Laver Cup. In 2021, the Phoenix Mercury bopped around alternate venues to start the playoffs because of a scheduling conflict with Disney on Ice. Later that postseason, when it seemed like the Mercury might again be displaced to accommodate a Lakers-Suns preseason game, the Suns moved their preseason game up a few hours and played the games as a doubleheader. On Sunday, USA Today reported that efforts to move the Finals games to even Georgia Tech’s 8,600-seat arena or another 13,000-seat arena nearby had “hit a roadblock.”

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