An Arena Crisis Averted

The WNBA Finals will start this weekend.  The Golden State Valkyries are taking on the Atlanta Dream.  Golden State plays in the Chase Center, the Warriors' 18,000-seat arena in downtown San Francisco.  The Dream's home court is a 3,500-seat arena in the Atlanta suburb of College Park.  Quite the contrast, isn't it?

Fortunately, Atlanta's WNBA Finals home games won't be played at the Gateway Center.  They'll instead be held at State Farm Arena in downtown Atlanta.  Which they almost weren't.  Had they not been able to make the switch, it would've been such an embarrassment for the league.  An embarrassment they were able to avoid.

Each of the Dream's first three home playoff games were moved to State Farm Arena, where they'll play full-time in 2027.  However, there was an event scheduled at the arena on all three of their WNBA Finals home dates.  There's a Sombr concert on October 22 (the day of Game 3), while the Hawks' home opener is on October 24 (the day of Game 4).  There's also a Hawks game on October 29, when the Dream are scheduled to potentially host Game 6.

It took a little bit of work, cooperation and collaboration, but they were able to come up with a solution that allows the Dream to play at least their first two home games at State Farm Arena.  There were originally two off days between Games 2 & 3.  They cut that to one and moved Game 3 up a day to October 21, when the arena is available.  They also moved the start time of Game 4 from 3:30 to 1:00.  The Hawks, in turn, moved the start time of their game that night from 8:00 to 8:30, allowing enough time in between for both games to be played in the arena on the same day.

This situation came about, in part, because the WNBA took a two-week break in September for the Women's Basketball World Cup in Germany.  As a result, the playoffs got pushed back later into October than usual.  So late, in fact, that the NBA season will have already started before the WNBA Finals are over.  Which meant that schedule conflicts with NBA games were also possible.  This is Exhibit A.

Presumably, this situation won't happen again next season, when there won't be a World Cup break.  Although, there's an Olympics in 2028, so it certainly does seem like a possibility in the future.  The wisdom of having the WNBA playoffs run deep into October, when they're going head-to-head with all four Major League men's sports, as well as college football, is a completely separate issue that's a topic for a different day.  But it certainly was a contributing factor here.  The league put itself in this position.  So, if they weren't able to get out of it, it would've been their own fault.

When this story first broke, the thing that struck me was how they couldn't find another venue in the Atlanta area as an alternative site.  That, frankly, was the most surprising part.  Why not Georgia Tech's Alexander Coliseum?  It's not NBA-sized, but it seats 8,500, which is more than double the Dream's regular arena.  Or what about the 13,000-seat Gwinnett Center, their former home 30 miles northeast of Atlanta (which previously hosted the WNBA Finals in 2013)?  It seemed odd that presumably the only two possibilities were the Hawks' arena or the Dream's 3,500-seat arena.

Contrast that to the Valkyries.  They came into the WNBA last year and are owned by the same group that owns the Warriors.  The plan was always for the teams to share the Chase Center.  And that faith has proven to be justified.  The Valkyries sold out all 22 of their home games last season.  So, they have no issue selling 18,000 tickets (being good right off the bat sure didn't hurt).

Atlanta, meanwhile, moved from Philips Arena to the Gateway Center (which they share with the Hawks' G League affiliate, the College Park Skyhawks) in 2021.  The team wasn't very good then, so playing in the arena with the smaller capacity made a degree of sense.  They've played select games at State Farm Arena each season since then and will move back there full-time next year.  Which, frankly, they should.  If you want to be taken seriously as a professional team, you need to play in a professional arena.

That contrast really is striking.  The Dream aren't alone in playing in an arena with a smaller capacity than their NBA counterparts in the same city.  The Valkyries aren't alone, either.  Just as many WNBA teams share an arena with their city's NBA team.  Some are even owned by the same group.  For a league on the rise, having its teams play in arenas with such a massive difference in size really doesn't make much sense.  Especially since it leads to situations like what we almost saw in Atlanta, which is embarrassing no matter how you look at it.

Over the past few years, the WNBA has seen massive growth.  From expansion to a longer season to a new CBA that gives the players more money and better treatment than they've ever had before, everything is moving in a positive direction.  That doesn't even include the increased attendance from the likes of Caitlin Clark and Paige Bueckers joining the league or the increased television exposure the WNBA gets through its deals with like five different networks that broadcast games.  Yet, despite all that, you've still got teams--successful teams--playing in 3,500-seat arenas in the suburbs.

I understand that sometimes there are underlying factors at play.  And some teams may prefer to play in the smaller venue where they know they'll be able to sell tickets instead of playing in a mostly empty NBA arena.  However, we're seeing more and more WNBA games being moved to larger venues because of increased ticket demand.  This is a good thing that the WNBA should try to capitalize on.  And, it's worth noting that all of the WNBA's recent and upcoming expansion teams with the exception of Toronto do or will play in NBA arenas.  All the more reason not to be playing a WNBA Finals game in what's essentially a high school gym.

Just imagine the ridicule that would've come the WNBA's way had they allowed the Dream's Finals games to be played there.  And it would've been deserved.  Especially when compared to the 18,000 purple-clad fans who figure to be on hand in San Francisco for the first two games.  If the WNBA wants to be taken seriously as a major professional league on par with the men's sports, it needs to act seriously.  Fortunately, everyone was on the same page about not wanting that look and a reasonable, common-sense solution was reached.

If the series comes back to Atlanta for Game 6, I have no idea what they'll do.  But they'd better be thinking about that contingency.  Because, just as Game 4 is a potential clinch game, so is Game 6.  Fans will want to see the clinch game, regardless of which team is trying to clinch.  So, the demand will be there.  They just need to meet the moment and move to the arena these women deserve to be playing in.  Especially when somebody has the chance to lift the trophy at the end of the game.