The Golden State Valkyries have broken the WNBA mold in many ways in their two years of existence. But in the franchise’s first trip to the WNBA Finals, it will get a taste of the W’s old ways.
When the Valkyries travel to Atlanta to face the Dream, they will likely play their road games in the seven-game WNBA Finals series at the 3,500-seat Gateway Center Arena in College Park, located about 45 minutes from Atlanta. According to reports from The IX Sports, WSB-TV and USA Today, the Dream’s attempts to find a different arena in the Atlanta area have been unsuccessful and are making Gateway Center Arena the likely host venue.
Gateway Center Arena has been the Dream’s home arena for the past six seasons. But the Dreams played their first three games of the WNBA playoffs in the much larger State Farm Arena in downtown Atlanta, where the NBA Hawks play. This arena has a capacity of more than 17,000, and the Dream drew more than 9,500 fans for its first three WNBA playoff games.
But State Farm Arena, which is operated by the Hawks, conflicts with the three possible home game dates for the Dream in their series with the Valkyries. The third match would take place on October 22, when Sombr is scheduled to perform there. Game 4 will take place two days later on October 24 when the Hawks play their home opener against the Rockets. And if the series goes to Game 6 on October 29, the Hawks should host the Heat.
The Valkyries appeared to have a conflict with a WNBA Finals date, as a Doja Cat concert was originally booked for Monday, Oct. 26 — the date of a possible Game 5. But Golden State officials said last week that they had a contingency date in their contract in the event of a WNBA Finals game, and the concert was officially moved to Sunday, Oct. 25 once the Valkyries swept the Aces.
The Dream have already called State Farm Arena home twice, have played several regular-season games there in recent years (including six this year) and are expected to return to the downtown arena full-time in 2027 as part of a multi-year deal. But since it wasn’t their home this year, it’s understandable that the Hawks booked events for State Farm Arena without the same contractual flexibility the Valkyries have at Chase Center.
According to USA Today, the Dream have also considered playing other area arenas, including the 13,000-seat Gas South Arena in Gwinnett and Georgia Tech’s 8,500-seat McCamish Zone. But USA Today reported that the team’s efforts “hit a roadblock.”
Being forced out of your stadium has been a frequent problem in the WNBA over the league’s 30-year history. Teams were routinely forced to hold their playoff games at smaller venues in their home market because their regular arenas held a different event that took priority. (This happened during their last trip to the WNBA Finals in 2013.)
The Valkyries also experienced this last year. The team had to move its first-ever playoff match to the SAP Center in San Jose because it had booked the Laver Cup, an international tennis competition, before Golden State’s owners knew they were going to form a WNBA team. After that, Golden State president Brandon Schneider told SFGATE that the team said Valkyries games “need to be at Chase Center, just like Warriors games need to be at Chase Center.”
This situation is not an exact replica, as the Dreams are about to play in their usual arena in College Park. But it’s certainly not ideal to play WNBA Finals games in an arena with a smaller capacity than many high school gyms across the country.
Gn sports
