The Atlanta Dream will get the larger stage they wanted after all.
The WNBA announced Monday that Games 3 and 4 of the 2026 WNBA Finals between the Dream and the Golden State Valkyries will be played at State Farm Arena, resolving a venue issue that had initially left Atlanta facing the possibility of hosting championship games at the much smaller Gateway Center Arena.
Making the move possible required several changes to the original schedule. Game 3, originally set for Thursday, October 22, has been moved forward one day to Wednesday, October 21, while keeping its 8 p.m. ET tipoff. Game 4 will remain on Saturday, October 24, but will begin at 1 p.m. ET instead of the originally scheduled 3:30 p.m. start.
The earlier Game 4 tipoff is important because State Farm Arena also has to host the Atlanta Hawks later that same day. To create enough turnaround time between the two events, the Hawks agreed to move their home opener against the Houston Rockets from 8 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. ET.
It is a significant reversal from where the situation stood only days earlier. State Farm Arena had initially appeared unavailable because of existing bookings, including a concert and Hawks games, while attempts to secure other larger Atlanta-area venues had also run into complications. The Dream therefore appeared set to return to Gateway Center Arena, which holds roughly 3,500 spectators for basketball.
Instead, cooperation between the Dream, Valkyries, Hawks, State Farm Arena and the league ultimately opened the door for the Finals to be played in a venue capable of accommodating thousands more fans. WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said the change would dramatically increase capacity and give Atlanta a more fitting setting for its first WNBA Finals game since 2013,
The decision also fits the Dream’s longer-term plans. Atlanta is already scheduled to make State Farm Arena its full-time home beginning in 2027, making this Finals run something of an early preview of the franchise’s next chapter.
