3,500 Seats Will Host the Dream's WNBA Finals Home Games

Update, Oct. 13: The WNBA moved Games 3 and 4 to State Farm Arena.

Photo: WNBA.com. Official Angel Reese headshot, Atlanta Dream.

Barring a late venue change, the Atlanta Dream will play Games 3, 4 and a possible Game 6 of the WNBA Finals at Gateway Center Arena in College Park, a 3,500-seat building that has been their home since 2021. USA TODAY reported Oct. 11 that talks to move those dates to State Farm Arena or another larger Atlanta-area gym hit a roadblock, and ESPN's Michael Voepel reported the same night that the league and the club had not locked a bigger site.

State Farm Arena seats 17,044. Chase Center, where the Golden State Valkyries host Games 1, 2, 5 and 7, seats 18,064. Game 1 tips at Chase Center on Oct. 17.

Why State Farm was closed

State Farm is booked on every Atlanta Finals date. A Sombr concert sits on Oct. 22. Hawks regular-season games sit on Oct. 24 and 29, including the home opener. The Dream already played six regular-season games, per USA TODAY, and all three of their earlier home playoff games downtown this year, so the staff and the roster know that floor. They just cannot get it for the Finals.

"We didn't have playoff games (at State Farm Arena) last year ... but we had a couple of games there, and they felt like playoff games. So I think for us to have had those during the season and have the outcome that we had, I think it helps us get ready for this environment," Dream guard Rhyne Howard told USA TODAY.

USA TODAY reported the club also checked Gas South Arena (up to 13,000) and Georgia Tech's McCamish Pavilion (8,600). Both paths stalled.

History in small Finals rooms

Gateway will be the smallest Finals venue since the Mystics used CareFirst Arena in 2019, per ESPN. The Washington Mystics played at CareFirst Arena (4,200) that year, the last Finals at a venue under 8,000 seats, not counting the 2020 bubble with no fans. College arenas and alternate sites have hosted Finals games earlier in league history, including Atlanta's own 2013 Finals date at what is now Gas South Arena (~13,000). ESPN noted alternate Finals sites have not been needed in recent years.

Atlanta is 0-9 all-time in Finals games, per USA TODAY. The franchise last reached this round in 2013. The Valkyries reached the Finals in their second season.

The 2027 irony

On Oct. 6 the Dream announced a multi-year deal to make State Farm their full-time home starting in 2027, when the WNBA moves to a 50-game schedule and Atlanta will host 25 home dates there. The Finals arrive one season too early for that arrangement.

Golden State has no such problem. "We will not play a game outside of Chase Center this postseason," Valkyries team president Jess Smith told USA TODAY. On the arena calendar, she added: "Things get booked in arenas with contingency dates. That's standard operating procedure."

The Valkyries said Finals tickets at Chase Center go on sale Monday, Oct. 12. "The pre-sale begins at 10 a.m. for single-game tickets with access for season ticket holders and suite holders, with the general public sale starting at 6 p.m.," per the team. The location for Games 3, 4 and 6 still reads TBD on the Valkyries' published schedule.

Sources:

• The Guardian: Atlanta Dream scrambling to find WNBA finals venue amid scheduling conflicts. Oct 11, 2026.
• USA TODAY: Atlanta Dream unable to secure larger venue for WNBA Finals games. Meghan L. Hall. Oct 11, 2026.
• ESPN: Location of Dream home games for WNBA Finals still uncertain. Michael Voepel. Oct 11, 2026.
• Valkyries.WNBA.com: Golden State Valkyries Advance to 2026 WNBA Finals. Oct 9, 2026.
• ESPN: Dream sweep Liberty to earn first WNBA Finals berth since 2013. Oct 9, 2026.
• Valkyries.WNBA.com: Valkyries Complete Sweep, Advancing to WNBA Finals. Oct 9, 2026.
• Photo: WNBA.com. Official Angel Reese headshot, Atlanta Dream.