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The Golden State Valkyries are two wins away from their first WNBA Finals appearance. But rapper and singer Doja Cat has a concert scheduled at Chase Center on Oct. 19, the same night as Game 2 of the WNBA Finals.
The No. 2-seed Valkyries, who are up 1–0 in their best-of-five semifinal against the Las Vegas Aces, would host Game 2 of the Finals in San Francisco if they advance because they would have homecourt advantage against either the No. 4 Atlanta Dream or No. 8 New York Liberty.
The WNBA Finals dates were announced in early September before the start of the playoffs; teams are given playoff hold dates before the season begins.
The higher seed will host Games 1, 2, 5, and 7 of the best-of-seven championship series.
It was not initially clear if the Valkyries had any contingency plans for hosting Game 2 of the WNBA Finals. After this article was first published, the Valkyries responded to a request for comment and said the concert would be moved to a contingency date and Game 2 would take place at the Chase Center. They added that this is “standard practice.”
No changes have yet been made to the schedule. Representatives for Doja Cat did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Golden State Group owns the Valkyries, the NBA’s Warriors, and the Chase Center, which both teams play in. The Warriors regular-season starts Oct. 21, but their home games will not conflict with any of the possible Valkyries finals home games.
The Valkyries have moved a game due to a postseason arena conflict in the past.
Last year, in Golden State’s inaugural season, the franchise hosted Game 2 of their first-round series against the Minnesota Lynx at the SAP Center in San Jose more than 40 miles away, home of the NHL’s Sharks. Before the Valkyries were named a franchise, the Chase Center had been already booked for the Laver Cup, a professional tennis tournament.
It was the only home game the Valkyries hosted in the 2025 playoffs because they were eliminated in the first round.
Following the arena conflict, Golden State president Brandon Schneider told SFGATE that they “will treat the WNBA playoffs the same way we treat the NBA playoffs.”
“And that is, of course, Valkyries playoff games need to be at Chase Center, just as Warriors games need to be at Chase Center,” Schneider said last year.
But he also claimed it would be easier to move a concert rather than a tennis tournament: “There was no way to avoid this. This is a 12-, 13-day thing. If it was a concert, you would say, ‘OK, move the concert.’ But that clearly is not an option with this.”
Oakland Arena, where the Warriors used to play before moving to Chase Center, was considered an option for last year’s playoff game, but the team said there was also a scheduling conflict due to a “property-wide private event.” Oakland Arena and SAP Arena do not currently have events scheduled on Oct. 19, according to their websites.
Chase Center does not have any major event scheduled on Oct. 17 (which would be Game 1) or 18. The venue also appears to be available from Oct. 20–22. The Warriors have a preseason game on Oct. 16, while their regular-season opener is on Oct. 23.
Doja Cat is scheduled to be in Portland, Oregon on October 17 and Sacramento on October 20, according to her website.
The potential conflict is particularly notable because the Valkyries are considered to have one of the best home court advantages in the league.
The Valkyries finished with a league-best 17–5 at home during the regular-season. They have sold out all 47 home games at the 18,000-seat Chase Center, nicknamed “Ballhalla” for Valkyries games, since the team joined the league.
Golden State led the league in average and total attendance in each of the last two seasons.
Other Finals Scenarios
The WNBA Finals schedule is as follows (all times ET):
- Game 1: Saturday, Oct. 17 at 3:30 p.m.
- Game 2: Monday, Oct. 19 at 8 p.m.
- Game 3: Thursday, Oct. 22 at 8 p.m.
- Game 4: Saturday, Oct. 24 at 3:30 p.m.
- Game 5: Monday, Oct. 26 at 8 p.m.
- Game 6: Thursday, Oct. 29 at 8 p.m.
- Game 7: Saturday, Oct. 31 at 8 p.m.
The Aces, who would also be guaranteed homecourt advantage in the finals if they make it, do not have any conflict with events at Michelob Ultra Arena. Las Vegas has won three of the last four WNBA championships and have made the Finals four times since 2020.
The Liberty are also free of any conflict for Games 3, 4, and 6 at Barclays Center, despite sharing the arena with the NBA’s Nets, whose regular-season will begin Oct. 21. Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment owns both franchises and the arena.
The Dream will not have any conflict at their home arena, Gateway Center. But they’ve played all their playoff games this year at State Farm Arena, home of the NBA’s Hawks. The Hawks operate the arena, which is owned by the city, and their owners are not affiliated with the Dream.
A Sombr concert is scheduled at State Farm Arena on the day of Game 3 of the WNBA Finals, while two Hawks regular-season games are scheduled on Games 4 and 6.
A team spokesperson told FOS on Monday that the team is still “finalizing the details” on their possible home venue for the Finals.
The Dream announced Tuesday that they’ll play all their home games at State Farm next year.
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