WNBA finds drastic solution to Dreams 3,500-seat arena finals debacle
Atlanta’s WNBA Finals dream was answered.Game 3 and Game 4 of the WNBA Finals between the No.2 Valkyries and No.
4 Dream wil be played at State Farm Arena, the league announced Tuesday after making adjustments to the schedule.Based on the original slate of games, the Dream’s hopes of playing at the big arena, which has a capacity of 17,000, did not seem feasible due to conflicts of a Sombr concert on Oct.
22 and a regular-season game for the NBA’s Hawks on Oct.24.The WNBA stated Game 3 has been moved a day earlier to Wednesday, Oct.
21 at 8 p.m.ET, and Game 4 will be moved to a 1 p.m.
ET tip-off rather than its initial start of 3:30 p.m.ET.To accomodate the Dream, the Hawks agreed to push back the start time of their matchup against the Rockets by a half hour for a new tip-off time of 8:30 p.m.
ET.The announcement saves the Dream from likely having to host at its regular home of Gateway Center Arena in College Park that only holds 3,500 fans in their first Finals berth since 2013.Atlanta also looked into other venue options if they had no luck securing State Farm Arena, including Georgia Tech’s basketball stadium, McCamish Pavilion, which holds 8,600 fans.
“This is what the players and the fans deserve,” said Larry Gottesdiener, Atlanta Dream majority owner said in a statement. “We are grateful to all of the stakeholders who worked together to resolve the conflicts and make this happen.” If the best-of-seven series goes beyond five games, the Dream will still have a conflict in hosting Game 6 on Oct.29.
The Hawks are set to host the Cavaliers that night for a 7 p.m.tip-off.
The initial reports about venue conflict came just days after the Dream announced that they would be playing all home games at State Farm Arena in 2027.Atlanta played nine total games at the arena this season, including six regular-season games and all three of their home playoff matchups.“We are grateful for the efforts made by numerous stakeholders, including the Dre...