The Atlanta Dream are in search of a larger, long-term home arena and are exploring options, including building their own arena that could seat around 12,000 to 14,000 fans, team president Morgan Shaw Parker told Front Office Sports.
“We’re actively seeking our long-term home,” Shaw Parker said. “We are seeking opportunities to either partner [with an existing stadium] or build our own.” She said the team is looking at options in the city and within the greater Atlanta area.
The Dream were able to sell out all 20 of their home games last year, though 18 were played at the Gateway Center Arena, their current home, which fits around 4,000, the smallest capacity for a home arena in the WNBA.
Shaw Parker said there’s no exact timeline for when the team aims to move out of Gateway Center Arena, but told FOS their contract is “year-to-year.” The team is also exploring options to build a new “state-of-the-art” practice facility, which has become the norm around the WNBA as players search for organizations willing to invest holistically.
Movin’ On Up
In the meantime, the Dream announced Wednesday that they will move their home opener for the 2025 season against Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever on May 22 to the State Farm Arena, home of the NBA’s Hawks, which can fit more than 17,000 fans.
The Dream are the fifth team to announce home games moved to larger venues for the 2025 season.
- Las Vegas Aces: Four games in T-Mobile Arena, home of the NHL’s Golden Knights
- Connecticut Sun: One game at the TD Garden, home of the NBA’s Celtics
- Washington Mystics: Four total games, two in CFG Bank Arena in Baltimore and two at EagleBank Arena, home of the George Mason Patriots
- Chicago Sky: Two games at the United Center, home of the NBA’s Bulls
Last year, the Dream moved both games against the Fever to State Farm Arena and set a record for WNBA attendance with 17,608 fans in their Aug. 26 matchup. Shaw Parker told FOS that their home opener will be the lone game that will be moved to State Farm Arena during this year’s regular season, citing logistical and operational constraints that include increased rental costs.
She admitted that these are part of the growing pains of one of the league’s “independent” franchises. The Dream are one of five WNBA teams whose ownership group does not also own another major pro sports team in their city (Dream, Sky, Sun, Seattle Storm, and Dallas Wings).
“We are not a huge organization that can carry a lift yet to be able to execute a full season in another arena,” Shaw Parker said. Her hope is the organization can continue to grow alongside the rest of the league, becoming ready once a larger permanent venue is built. She said the franchise’s staff is up from just seven to around 50 in the last four years.
However, Shaw Parker didn’t close the door on the Dream moving a playoff game to a bigger venue in 2025. She said that aside from State Farm Arena, the team has also explored moving games to arenas at Georgia State and Georgia Tech, as well as the Gas South Arena in Duluth, Ga., about 25 miles northeast of Atlanta.
Despite eking out the No. 8 seed last season, the Dream did not host a playoff game due to the WNBA playoff format that gave the top-seeded teams home-court advantage in the first two games of a best-of-three series. That rule will change this upcoming season, though the Dream are poised to challenge for a top seed after acquiring 10-time All-Star Brittney Griner in February, the biggest signing in franchise history.
