The Atlanta Dream are WNBA Finals bound.
The Dream, led by third-year WNBA star Angel Reese, took down the New York Liberty in the second round of the WNBA Playoffs last week. Atlanta swept New York, 3-0, in the second round playoff series, to advance to the WNBA Finals.
Atlanta will be taking on the Golden State Valkyries in a best-of-7 series, which begins Saturday in California.
However, when the series returns to Atlanta, there could be an unfortunate arena conflict for the Dream.
Brett Davis-Imagn Images.
The Dream are likely going to have to play the WNBA Finals home games in a smaller arena.
“The location of the Atlanta Dream’s home games for the WNBA Finals had not been determined as of Sunday night,” ESPN reported on Sunday night.
“The Dream, who will face the Golden State Valkyries in the best-of-seven series, are scheduled to host Games 3, 4 and 6 (if necessary) on Oct. 22, 24 and 29. The Dream’s home arena since 2021 has been Gateway Center Arena at College Park, which holds only 3,500 fans. That small capacity is a concern for the Finals, but at this point, the Dream have not said if they have secured a larger facility.”
Dream president and chief operating officer Morgan Shaw Parker said last week that the franchise was “finalizing details on their home venue and where we will be playing” for the Finals.”
Golden State will be hosting Games 1 and 2, along with Game 5 and Game 7, if necessary.
It would be an unfortunate situation.
“Several playoff games, including in the WNBA Finals, have been played in alternate venues during the league’s 30-season history because of facility conflicts or renovations, but that hasn’t been the case in recent years. The Dream hosted a 2013 WNBA Finals game at the Arena at Gwinnett Center in Duluth, Georgia. That facility is now known as Gas South Arena and seats around 13,000,” ESPN added.
Hopefully, the Dream will figure out how to play in a bigger arena.
