In 2008, 11,609 fans filled the Philips Arena (now State Farm Arena) to set a franchise attendance record. It stood for 16 years, as the team also moved to its 3,500-seat home at Gateway Center Arena after struggling with attendance, winning a league-low eight games in 2019. But then came Caitlin Clark. The Dream moved their June 2024 matchup with Indiana to State Farm Arena to accommodate demand, and 17,575 fans showed up, nearly 6,000 more than the old record. Two months later, Clark returned, and another 33 people showed up, pushing the record to 17,608. So when Etan Thomas later tried to use a State Farm Arena crowd to demonstrate that the WNBA’s postseason could do just fine without Clark, there was a rather significant amount of backlash that led him to delete his post.

“Nobody will watch the WNBA playoffs now that Caitlin Clark is no longer playing. Support will plummet. Viewership will plunge. She is the only driving force that brings out fans. Meanwhile… State Farm Arena Game 1 of Atlanta Fever vs New York Liberty Semi Finals yesterday,” Thomas had written while sharing a clip that gave the impression of a packed State Farm Arena. The attendance number, however, told a different story.

“LOL The attendance was only 9,745 for a 17,000 seat arena. They had to tarp off the upper bowl because of lack of interest/sales…” OutKick journalist Jon Root wrote in his rebuttal.

Christine Brennan, who wrote the bestselling biography on Caitlin Clark, weighed in on the sparse crowd as well, writing: “No matter how critical I’ve been of Cathy Engelbert’s repeated & erroneous attempts to favorably compare Angel Reese to Caitlin Clark’s drawing power, this is a surprise: Curtains up because only 9,745 came to NY-ATL playoff. But two Clark regular-season games? 17,044 both times.”

The situation isn’t that simple still, with the Dream giving a different reason.

“We just decided that with the short turnaround, we would only open the lower bowl and really concentrate on selling those tickets,” a team spokesperson told Front Office Sports.

Atlanta announced in late August that its first- and second-round games would move from the 3,500-seat Gateway Center to State Farm Arena, with the venue “subject to change.” The Dream then secured home-court advantage in the opening round on Sept. 23, with the regular season nearing its end. A day later, they found out they would face the Washington Mystics. The league finalized and released the first-round schedule on Sept. 25, leaving Atlanta just two days to prepare for its Game 1 matchup.

The Dream went on to sweep Washington on Wednesday, setting up a semifinal series against the New York Liberty that began four days later. Now, State Farm Arena can accommodate roughly 17,000 fans for basketball. The lower bowl, however, holds about 8,800. That was the starting point for the Dream’s first two playoff games. The team told Front Office Sports that once those 8,800 lower-bowl tickets were gone, it opened part of the upper level, ultimately bringing attendance for each game above 9,700.

Another thing to note is that the Dream have to coordinate with the Hawks when it comes to State Farm. Now, the arena is again opening only its lower bowl for Wednesday’s Game 2. The upper level, meanwhile, is being used for other events: the Hawks’ preseason game on Monday and a Charli XCX concert Tuesday.

On the other hand, Indiana drew 10,207 fans for Game 1 and another 10,388 for Game 3 on the road. With Las Vegas’ Michelob ULTRA Arena holding 12,000, those figures translated to roughly 85 percent and 87 percent of capacity. For their home game in the first round, the Fever welcomed 16,298 fans to Gainbridge Fieldhouse, which has a capacity of 17,274.

The Caitlin Clark effect is undeniable. Since Clark entered the WNBA, the Fever have become a major road draw, with several teams moving games against Indiana into larger arenas to meet demand. The attendance numbers from the past two seasons offer plenty of evidence. And this year, it was all the more visible for the Dream when, two days after 17,044 fans filled State Farm Arena to watch Caitlin Clark’s Fever visit the Atlanta Dream on June 20, the same building held 9,685 for Atlanta’s game against the Toronto Tempo.

The difference was hard to ignore, but at the same time, it offered an early indication that the fans’ appetite didn’t entirely disappear when Clark wasn’t the opponent. The executives might have had that in mind when they chose to go to State Farm against an expansion franchise, on a Monday night. So while the number didn’t turn out that flashy, it was reassuring for a team that knows what it’s like to spend years in uncertainty.

Atlanta finished the regular season drawing 6,928 fans a night, roughly 2,500 more than it did a year earlier. No WNBA team posted a bigger year-over-year jump. A major factor was the Dream’s expanded use of State Farm Arena, going from one regular-season game there in 2025 to six in 2026. Now, the Dream have a case to make. The spokesperson told FOS that discussions are underway about playing more than six games a year at State Farm Arena.

Clark’s arrival did kickstart the Dream’s efforts to build on a bigger stage and carve out an identity of their own. And perhaps that’s the best way to view the CC effect. Clark brought more eyes to the WNBA, and those eyes don’t have to leave when she does. That is what she wishes for, at least.

However, credit where credit is due: Clark wasn’t creating the Dream’s momentum from scratch. The 2024 shift to the State Farm Arena was also because of the product the team had put out in 2023. With Rhyne Howard, Allisha Gray, and Cheyenne Parker-Tyus leading the way, Atlanta returned to the playoffs for the first time since 2018 while posting the most sold-out games in the WNBA.