Atlanta Dream to host Finals Games 3 and 4 in much larger arena after days-long drama

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The Atlanta Dream may have racked up a ton of steals on the court against opponents in this WNBA postseason, but the franchise just got a major assist ahead of the Finals against the Golden State Valkyries.

On Tuesday, it was announced the WNBA Finals schedule would be altered for Game 3 and Game 4 to accommodate the Dream using State Farm Arena in downtown Atlanta instead of the team’s home base, Gateway Center Arena in nearby College Park, Georgia. The Gateway Center has the smallest capacity in the league at 3,500 and State Farm Arena, home of the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks, holds around 17,000.

Game 3, originally scheduled for October 22, will now be played October 21. Game 4 will remain on October 24, but tipoff is moving up to 1 p.m. ET to accommodate the Hawks’ home opener against the Houston Rockets later that night. The Hawks agreed to move the start time of their game to 8:30 p.m. instead of 8 p.m. ET.

The WNBA Finals begin Saturday in San Francisco at Chase Center, the home of the Valkyries, which has the fifth-largest capacity in the league at more than 18,000. The series is a 2-2-1-1-1 format.

“This is what the players and the fans deserve,” Dream majority owner Larry Gottesdiener said in a statement. “We are grateful to all of the stakeholders who worked together to resolve the conflicts and make this happen.”

Both fan bases for the Dream and the Valkyries are sharing the excitement of getting to the WNBA Finals. But the two teams were dealing with vastly different circumstances on where these games will be played – as fervent Atlanta fans were worried they would have massive trouble getting a coveted ticket close to home.

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The Dream previously used State Farm Arena for some games this season, including the playoffs. But the way the WNBA Finals schedule had originally been constructed, all three of the games Atlanta could host had conflicts at that venue.

“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,” said Andrew Saltzman, president of business enterprise and chief commercial officer for the Hawks and 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.”

The Dream advanced to the WNBA Finals for the first time since 2013 and the Valkyries are reaching the championship stage in just the team’s second season.

It’s got the makings of a blockbuster matchup in Angel Reese vs. Gabby Williams. Either Atlanta or Golden State will be a first-time WNBA Finals champion.

But the focus had been on the number of seats available – or, in this case, not available. And just like in 2013, there had been a possibility the Dream wouldn’t be able to play in downtown Atlanta in a large arena used heavily for professional basketball with a championship on the line.

“We are grateful for the efforts made by numerous stakeholders, including the Dream, the Valkyries, the Hawks, State Farm Arena, and NBC Sports and USA Sports,” WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said. “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.”

The Dream, which joined the WNBA as an expansion team in 2008, used State Farm Arena – then known as Philips Arena – for home games from 2008-2016.

But despite having it as a home base during the 2013 WNBA Finals, the Dream had to move from downtown Atlanta to Duluth – a suburb in Gwinnett County – for Game 3 because of Disney On Ice . It was the only home game the Dream hosted, getting swept by the Minnesota Lynx in that best-of-five series.

Gateway Center Arena has been the team’s full-time home arena for the last six years. The team will move back to State Farm Arena full time in 2027.

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Not all WNBA franchises in cities that also have NBA teams have the same ownership or same arena. That applies here: The Dream franchise has a different ownership group than the Hawks.

The Valkyries, meanwhile, share owners with their NBA counterpart, the Golden State Warriors. They share Chase Center in San Francisco.

And ahead of time, the Valkyries committed to all home games in this Finals being at their home arena. The team previously had announced a Doja Cat concert – scheduled the same night as Game 2 of the WNBA Finals coming up Monday – would be moved if Golden State got that far. Golden State has the home-team advantage against Atlanta and will host Games 1 and 2 and, if necessary, Game 5 and Game 7.

The original schedule conflict involved all three games the Dream could host. Game 3, which originally was scheduled for October 22, is the same night as a Sombr concert at State Farm Arena. Game 6, if necessary, also falls on the same date as a Hawks home game, October 29 against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

No plan to deconflict with that Hawks game has yet been announced, should the series reach a Game 6.

While it’s common for NBA teams to take precedence if there’s a double booking at the team’s home arena – it notably happened to the Hawks in 2023, when a Janet Jackson concert got postponed for a first-round playoff game against the Boston Celtics – there is previous history where WNBA playoff games have been moved away from a team’s home arena over the course of the WNBA’s 30 seasons.

Just last year, the Valkyries – shocking the WNBA world by reaching the playoffs in their inaugural season in 2025 – moved a first-round playoff game more than 40 miles away to SAP Center in San Jose, the home of the NHL’s San Jose Sharks. The game was relocated because the Laver Cup, a tennis event, was booked at Chase Center.

The Valkyries were swept in that best-of-three series by the Lynx.

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亚特兰大梦想队在本赛季 WNBA 季后赛中虽然在场上抢断对手的次数很多，但在与金州女武神队的总决赛之前，该队刚刚获得了一次重要的助攻。

周二，WNBA官方宣布总决赛第三场和第四场比赛的赛程将进行调整，以便梦想队能够使用位于亚特兰大市中心的州立农场球馆（State Farm Arena）而非球队主场——位于佐治亚州大学城附近的盖特威中心球馆（Gateway Center Arena）。盖特威中心球馆是联盟中容量最小的球馆，仅能容纳3500名观众，而NBA亚特兰大老鹰队的主场——州立农场球馆则可容纳约17000名观众。

原定于10月22日举行的第三场比赛将提前至10月21日进行。第四场比赛仍定于10月24日举行，但开球时间提前至美国东部时间下午1点，以便老鹰队当晚晚些时候还有主场迎战休斯顿火箭队的揭幕战。老鹰队同意将火箭队比赛的开球时间从美国东部时间晚上8点提前至晚上8点30分。

WNBA总决赛将于周六在旧金山大通中心开赛，该中心是瓦尔基里队的主场，拥有联盟第五大的容量，超过18000个座位。系列赛采用2-2-1-1-1赛制。

“这是球员和球迷应得的，”梦想队大股东拉里·戈特斯迪纳在一份声明中表示。“我们感谢所有利益相关者的共同努力，他们齐心协力解决了冲突，促成了此事。”

梦想队和瓦尔基里队的球迷都为球队晋级WNBA总决赛而兴奋不已。但两队在比赛举办地点的问题上却面临着截然不同的境况——亚特兰大的狂热球迷们担心，他们很难在家附近买到梦寐以求的球票。

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梦想队本赛季此前曾使用州立农场球馆进行部分比赛，包括季后赛。但由于WNBA总决赛赛程最初的安排，亚特兰大梦想队能够承办的三场比赛都与该场馆的档期冲突。

“我们非常高兴能够为梦想队在州立农场球馆举办WNBA总决赛第三场和第四场比赛提供场地，”老鹰队和州立农场球馆的商业企业总裁兼首席商务官安德鲁·萨尔茨曼表示。“争夺总冠军意义非凡，我们希望梦想队在这段精彩的征程中感受到全城人民的全力支持。”

梦想队自 2013 年以来首次晋级 WNBA 总决赛，而瓦尔基里队在建队仅第二个赛季就打入了总决赛。

安吉尔·里斯和加比·威廉姆斯之间的对决极有可能成为一场焦点大战。亚特兰大勇士队或金州勇士队将首次捧起WNBA总冠军奖杯。

但人们关注的焦点一直集中在可用座位的数量上——或者更确切地说，是不可用座位的数量上。就像2013年一样，梦想队有可能无法在亚特兰大市中心那座经常用于职业篮球比赛的大型体育馆里进行一场决定总冠军归属的比赛。

WNBA总裁凯西·恩格尔伯特表示：“我们衷心感谢众多利益相关方的努力，包括梦想队、瓦尔基里队、老鹰队、州立农场球馆以及NBC体育和USA体育。更换比赛场地将大幅增加座位容量，确保梦想队能够为自2013年以来在亚特兰大市场举行的首场WNBA总决赛营造非凡的氛围。我们很高兴东南地区的数千名球迷将有机会亲临现场，体验WNBA的巅峰赛事——WNBA总决赛。”

梦想队于 2008 年作为扩充球队加入 WNBA，在 2008 年至 2016 年期间，一直使用 State Farm Arena（当时名为 Philips Arena）作为主场。

尽管梦想队在2013年WNBA总决赛期间以亚特兰大为主场，但由于迪士尼冰上表演的缘故，她们不得不从亚特兰大市中心搬到格温内特县郊区的德卢斯，进行第三场比赛。那也是梦想队唯一一场主场比赛，最终她们在五局三胜制的系列赛中被明尼苏达山猫队横扫出局。

过去六年，Gateway Center Arena一直是该队的主场。球队将于2027年迁回State Farm Arena作为主场。

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并非所有位于也有NBA球队的城市的WNBA球队都拥有相同的所有权或使用相同的球馆。例如，梦想队和老鹰队的所有权集团就不同。

与此同时，瓦尔基里女足与NBA球队金州勇士队拥有共同的老板，并且共用位于旧金山的Chase Center球馆。

此前，瓦尔基里队已承诺，总决赛所有主场比赛都将在她们的主场进行。球队此前宣布，如果金州勇士队打进总决赛，原定于周一晚与WNBA总决赛第二场比赛同一天举行的Doja Cat演唱会将会改期。勇士队拥有对阵亚特兰大老鹰队的主场优势，将主场进行总决赛第一场和第二场比赛，如有必要，还将主场进行第五场和第七场比赛。

最初的赛程冲突涉及梦想队所有三场主场比赛。原定于1​​0月22日举行的第三场比赛，与Sombr乐队在州立农场球馆的演唱会是同一天晚上。如果需要进行第六场比赛，那么它也与老鹰队10月29日主场迎战克利夫兰骑士队的比赛撞期。

如果系列赛打到第六场，目前还没有公布任何避免与老鹰队比赛冲突的计划。

如果球队主场球馆同时安排了其他活动，NBA 球队通常会优先安排比赛——2023 年老鹰队就曾遇到过这种情况，当时珍妮·杰克逊的演唱会因为要和波士顿凯尔特人队进行季后赛首轮比赛而被推迟——但在 WNBA 成立的 30 个赛季中，WNBA 季后赛也曾被安排到其他球队的主场球馆之外进行比赛。

就在去年，瓦尔基里女篮——这支在2025年首个赛季就打进WNBA季后赛的队伍震惊了整个WNBA——将一场季后赛首轮比赛从40多英里外的圣何塞SAP中心移到了那里，也就是NHL圣何塞鲨鱼队的主场。比赛改期的原因是，网球赛事拉沃尔杯已经预定在Chase中心举行。

在三局两胜制的系列赛中，女武神队被山猫队横扫出局。