The WNBA announced Tuesday that Games 3 and 4 of the Finals will move from Gateway Center Arena in College Park to State Farm Arena in downtown Atlanta. The capacity goes from about 3,500 to 16,888.
That is more than 13,000 additional seats per game for the Atlanta Dream’s first Finals appearance since 2013.
What Actually Changed
Gateway Center was not unavailable. It was simply too small for a Finals. The league moved the games to expand capacity, which is a different and slightly more embarrassing story than a scheduling conflict forcing a venue change.
The conflicts were at State Farm Arena. A Sombr concert booked for October 22 pushed Game 3 up a day, from Thursday to Wednesday, October 21 at 8 p.m. ET. Game 4 stays Saturday, October 24, but tips at 1 p.m. ET instead of 3:30, and the Atlanta Hawks agreed to push their regular-season home opener against Houston from 8 p.m. to 8:30 to accommodate the doubleheader.
Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said the arrangement “dramatically expands the seating capacity” for Atlanta’s first Finals appearance since 2013. Dream majority owner Larry Gottesdiener was more direct: “This is what the players and the fans deserve.”
He Is Right, and That Is the Problem
A league that just finished a season of record attendance and television ratings scheduled its championship round in a 3,500-seat building and only fixed it five days before the series started. Public tickets for Game 3 do not go on sale until October 16.
The demand was never in doubt. The Dream closed the upper bowl at State Farm Arena for their semifinal opener, citing a short turnaround, and still drew 9,745. That is nearly three times what Gateway Center holds.
The fix is good. The fact that it was needed at this stage is a planning failure, and Game 6 still has no announced venue because Gateway Center conflicts with a Hawks home game against Cleveland.
The Series Itself Is Excellent
Golden State went 32-12, the second-best record in the league, in the Valkyries’ second season of existence. Natalie Nakase’s team beat seventh-seeded Dallas in the first round and then swept the defending champion Las Vegas Aces 3-0 in the semifinals, closing it with an overtime win decided by a Gabby Williams bucket inside the final minute. Kayla Thornton had 18 points and nine rebounds in that game, Williams 16 points, and Kiah Stokes put up 11 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, three blocks and two steals in 37 minutes.
Atlanta went 30-14 under Karl Smesko, swept Washington, then swept the New York Liberty 3-0, closing it 85-83 behind 22 points from Angel Reese.
This is the first WNBA Finals since 2021 without the Aces or the Liberty. Whichever team wins claims the first championship in its franchise history.
Who to Watch
For Atlanta: Allisha Gray averaged 19.0 points, Rhyne Howard 17.7, Reese 16.4 with 12.1 rebounds, and Jordin Canada 11.6 with 7.3 assists. Gray, Reese and Howard were all 2026 All-Star reserves.
For Golden State: Gabby Williams averaged 14.4 points, Janelle Salaun 12.7, Veronica Burton 12.2 with 5.7 assists, and Stokes led the team at 5.8 rebounds.
The Schedule
Game 1 is Saturday, October 17 at 3:30 p.m. ET at Chase Center. Game 2 is Monday, October 19 at 8 p.m. ET, also in San Francisco. Games 3 and 4 are in Atlanta on October 21 and 24. Game 5, if needed, is October 26 at Chase Center. Game 6 would be October 29 at a venue not yet announced, and Game 7 would be October 31 in San Francisco.
The Valkyries hold home court as the higher seed. The series has not started.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.