On Wednesday night, the Atlanta Dream will have about 13,500 more reasons to take a 2-1 lead in the WNBA Finals against the Golden State Valkyries. After a rollercoaster of events that saw the Dream owners collaborating with the WNBA to change its venue from the 3500-seat Gateway Center Arena to State Farm Arena, fans have responded in some fashion to their team’s first home Finals game since 2013.
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“The Atlanta Dream have sold out tickets to Game 3 at State Farm Arena, a team source tells @FOS,” according to Colin Salao of Front Office Sports on X. The sellout comes a week after the WNBA rescheduled Games 3 and 4, allowing the Dream to host Finals games at the 17,000-seat arena.”
This is certainly good news for everyone involved and a massive upgrade from their league-low-capacity Gateway Center Arena that was expected to host the WNBA Finals in Atlanta. The State Farm Arena was initially booked for a Sombr concert for October 22, the same day Game 3 was supposed to be played. Because the concert could not be rescheduled, the WNBA moved Game 3 to October 21 to accommodate the Dream in the much larger venue.
Meanwhile, Game 4 will be held on the scheduled date, which is October 24. However, the tip-off moved from around 3 p.m. E.T. to 1 p.m. E.T. as the Atlanta Hawks take on the Houston Rockets in their home opener later in the night.
While we do not know if Game 6 of the WNBA Finals will even happen, it is scheduled for October 29, the same night the Atlanta Hawks take on the Cleveland Cavaliers. It remains to be seen what measures will be taken if the series goes to Game 6.
This is not the first time State Farm Arena has sold out for a Dream game this season. Angel Reese and company played six of their regular-season games at this venue, selling out five of them. However, that wasn’t the case in the earlier playoff rounds, when they opened only the lower bowl, which fit about 8,800 fans, and a small portion of the upper bowl. The Dream averaged about 9,700 fans during the previous three playoff games at State Farm Arena.
The decision not to open the full venue came down to the limited time between the Dream securing home-court advantage, learning about their first-round opponent (the Washington Mystics), and hosting Game 1. With almost no time to prepare, the turnaround was tight.
“The turnaround for their playoffs was so short. I think you’ll see a very different building that is jam-packed for these finals,” Koonin told FOS.
Nevertheless, the Dream will not face any scheduling or venue issues come next season. This is because the franchise announced earlier this month that all 25 regular-season games, as well as the playoff games, will be at State Farm Arena starting next year. According to Koonin, the deal will run for five seasons.
“We want to be partners with [the Dream and WNBA]. We want to give them high praise because they’ve done a great job as a league and as a franchise,” Koonin told FOS.
The Atlanta Dream have never played a WNBA Finals game at State Farm Arena. Their only home Finals game before this came in 2013, when a scheduling conflict with Disney On Ice forced them to move to the Gwinnett Center (now Gas South Arena) in Duluth, Georgia. Just 5,000 fans attended that game.
While the series has been more or less even throughout the two games played, about 17,000 fans cheering head coach Karl Smesko’s side.