On October 21 and 24, the Atlanta Dream will have around 13,500 more reasons to win Games 3 and 4 at home. The home leg of the 2026 WNBA Finals for the Angel Reese-led squad is officially moving to State Farm Arena instead of the smaller 3,500-capacity Gateway Center Arena, the Dream’s current home base.
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The 17,000-capacity stadium has been home to the Dream throughout the playoffs, and the team also sold out five of its six regular-season games there. Considering the Dream has never lost in this arena so far in the postseason, playing in this venue is a major boost for head coach Karl Smesko’s side, and prominent figures around the WNBA have already put forth their statements on this matter.
“This is what the players and the fans deserve. We are grateful to all of the stakeholders who worked together to resolve the conflicts and make this happen.” Atlanta Dream majority owner Larry Gottesdiener said, per WNBA.com.
The State Farm Arena was booked for a Sombr concert on Oct. 22 and Hawks regular-season games Oct. 24 (vs. Houston) and 29 (vs. Cleveland). Because the Sombr concert couldn’t be rescheduled, Game 3 of the WNBA Finals will now be played a day earlier, on Oct. 21 instead of 22. Meanwhile, Game 4 will remain on the scheduled date, but tip-off is moved up to 1 p.m. ET from 3 p.m. ET to accommodate the Atlanta Hawks’ home opener against the Houston Rockets later that night.
“We are thrilled that we will be able to accommodate the Dream as they host Games 3 and 4 of the WNBA Finals at State Farm Arena. Playing for a championship is special, and we want the Dream to feel the full support of the city during this amazing run,” said Andrew Saltzman, President of Business Enterprise and Chief Commercial Officer of the Atlanta Hawks and State Farm Arena.
Even WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert thanked the efforts of various stakeholders, including the Dream, the Valkyries, the Hawks, State Farm Arena, and NBC Sports and USA Sports, all of whom made it possible for the Dream to showcase their season’s long hard work at the WNBA Finals on a much grander stage.
“The change of venue dramatically expands the seating capacity and ensures that the Dream will be able to provide an extraordinary atmosphere for the first WNBA Finals game to be played in the Atlanta market since 2013. We are pleased that thousands more fans across the Southeast region will have the opportunity to experience the ultimate WNBA action – the WNBA Finals – in person.”
Interestingly, State Farm Arena is not the only stadium affected by the WNBA Finals. Even Chase Center, the Golden State Valkyries’ home base, had a Doja Cat concert scheduled for Oct. 19, which is now shifted to Oct. 25 to accommodate the Valkyries hosting Game 2. Chase Stadium is bound to be sold out regardless, considering they hold the all-time WNBA attendance records for both average and total regular-season attendance, selling out every home game across their first two seasons.
The drama is already unfolding with the D-Day on the horizon. A must-watch WNBA Finals awaits us, as the league will crown a new name at the top regardless of who wins.