The Atlanta Dream weren’t kidding about a “scheduling conflict” for their home opener. They had to make way for several high school graduations.
The Dream announced Wednesday that their home opener on May 22 against the Indiana Fever has been scheduled to play at State Farm Arena, home of the NBA’s Hawks, which fits about 17,000 fans, more than four times as much as the 4,000 who fit in Gateway Center Arena, their current home.
However, the team received backlash after the announcement, in which Dream majority owner Larry Gottesdiener said the change was made due to a “scheduling conflict at Gateway.”
Some fans believed Atlanta didn’t want to admit that the game at State Farm Arena was due to the popularity of Fever star Caitlin Clark. Four other teams have already moved home games to bigger arenas this year, and all of them moved at least one against Indiana.
But it appears there really is a scheduling conflict: the Clayton County Public Schools (CCPS) high school graduations.
CCPS announced Nov. 13 that the final three days (May 21–23) of its five-day high school graduations would be held at the Georgia International Convention Center (GICC) in College Park. The WNBA and its teams announced the 2025 regular-season schedule in early December.
The GICC operates the Gateway Center Arena and the two share the same parking lot, although it’s unclear whether the arena will also be used for the graduations.
On May 22, the day of the scheduled Fever–Dream game, four high schools will hold graduations at the GICC, with the first scheduled to start at 8 a.m. ET and the last at 8 p.m. The Dream home opener is scheduled to tip off at 7:30 p.m. ET.
The Dream declined to comment, while the CCPS did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The CCPS graduation announcement said it serves more than 50,000 students from pre-K to the 12th grade and is among the 100 largest school districts in the country.
Search for a New Home
The schedule conflict shines a spotlight on the Dream’s quest for a new arena. Atlanta team president Morgan Shaw Parker previously told Front Office Sports that the team is in search of a new home that would fit 12,000 to 14,000 fans.
The team is open to partnering with existing arenas in Atlanta or the Greater Atlanta area and is even open to building its own venue. Shaw Parker said the timing of its move is still up in the air, but the team’s lease at Gateway Center Arena is “year-to-year.”
Atlanta is one of five WNBA teams that Shaw Parker described as “independent,” meaning their ownership group does not own another major pro sports franchise in the same city. The other four teams are the Chicago Sky, Connecticut Sun, Seattle Storm, and Dallas Wings.
Independent teams face a bigger logistical challenge in moving games than the Washington Mystics, for example, who moved two 2025 games to EagleBank Arena, a venue in Virginia managed by Monumental Sports & Entertainment, the Mystics’ parent company.
The Sun had an odd scheduling conflict with the Mohegan Sun Arena last year. Five-time All-Star Alyssa Thomas, who moved from the Sun to the Phoenix Mercury this season in a sign-and-trade, told The Next last year the team had to share their practice court with a 2-year-old’s birthday party ahead of a playoff game.
“Mohegan has to do better,” Thomas said. “[It’s the] ultimate disrespect.”
Despite the conflict, Atlanta is in the middle of its best offseason in franchise history after signing 10-time All-Star Brittney Griner and three-time All-Star Brionna Jones.
