Atlanta Dream Likely to Host WNBA Finals at Tiny Home Arena

The Atlanta Dream will likely have to downsize for the WNBA Finals.

A source tells Front Office Sports that the Dream are planning to host WNBA Finals games at Gateway Center, despite having played first- and second-round home playoffs games at the much larger State Farm Arena this year. 

Gateway Center, the Dream’s primary home arena since 2021, seats about 3,500 fans, the smallest in the WNBA. The team has clearly outgrown the venue, averaging nearly 7,000 fans per game this season driven by hosting six games at the 17,000-seat State Farm Arena.

But State Farm Arena has already been booked during the dates of Games 3, 4, and 6, when the Dream will host the Finals. (Game 6 will be played if necessary.) There is a Sombr concert on Game 3 (Oct. 22), while the NBA’s Hawks have two NBA regular season games on WNBA Finals Games 4 and 6 (Oct. 24 and 29).

The Hawks have played at the venue since it opened in 1999. The Atlanta Fulton County Recreation Authority owns the arena, but the Hawks franchise operates it. The Dream and State Farm Arena are still working to see if there’s a way to have the finals games played at the venue.

The Dream announced last week that they will play all 25 of their home games at State Farm Arena starting next season. A team spokesperson told FOS that they expect to hold all playoff games at State Farm Arena; the venue will hold playoff dates in case the Dream qualify.

The Dream have averaged about 9,700 fans for their three home playoff games at State Farm Arena this year. The team did not open most of the upper bowl of the venue, telling FOS last week that they prioritized selling out the lower bowl due to the short turnaround to sell playoff tickets.

There are other arenas in the greater Atlanta area that could fit significantly more than Gateway Center, including Georgia Tech’s McCamish Pavilion (8,600), Georgia State University’s Convocation Center (8,000), and Gas South Arena in Duluth, GA (13,000). Team president Morgan Shaw Parker told FOS last year that the team has explored moving games to those arenas.

A spokesperson for Georgia Tech told FOS that they had not had any conversations with the Dream about hosting any WNBA Finals games. Georgia State and Gas South Arena did immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Golden State Valkyries, the Dream’s finals opponent, will not have the same issue despite a concert scheduled at Chase Center on Game 2.

The team told FOS last week that it is planning to move a Doja Cat concert at Chase Center on Oct. 19 to accommodate Game 2 of the WNBA Finals. The team said it is “standard practice” to move events if the Valkyries advance through the playoffs.

Golden State had to play their first ever playoff game last year in San Jose because the Laver Cup, a professional tennis tournament, was scheduled at Chase Center. The team said the Laver Cup had been scheduled before Golden State was awarded a WNBA franchise.

However, unlike the Dream and State Farm Arena, the Valkyries have control over their venue. The Golden State Group, the Valkyries’ ownership, also owns and operates the Chase Center.

The WNBA Finals tips off Saturday, Oct. 17.