The WNBA league office stands to lose significant revenue if the Dream are unable to move their WNBA Finals games to a larger venue, based on a gate receipt protocol obtained by SBJ.
According to the WNBA’s 2026 Team and League Financial Policy memo, home teams in the Finals keep 80% of the net gate and grant the remaining 20% to the league office, capped at $500,000. Considering capacity at the Dream’s Gateway Center Arena is 3,500 — or 13,544 seats less than the Hawks’ State Farm Arena — the league office’s windfall will likely fall short of the $500,000, depending on the range of ticket prices.
Alternately, the Dream’s Finals opponent, the Valkyries, play at the 18,064-seat Chase Center and provide the league a more realistic chance of reaching the capped number.
As of Tuesday, State Farm Arena — which will be the Dream’s home next season — was unavailable for the Finals due to three conflicts: a Sombr concert on Oct. 22 and Hawks regular-season games on Oct. 24 and 29. Although there are reports the team is exploring alternative venues in the area, no deals were made public as of Monday night.
According to the memo obtained by SBJ, Gateway Center may not even reach 3,500 in paid capacity. The document states that the home team must comp 20 tickets in the lower bowl between the baskets to the visiting team’s ownership group. It must also comp 60 tickets to visiting coaches and players, 44 between the baskets and 16 elsewhere. The visiting basketball ops staff also receives two tickets between the baselines.
Each player on the home team gets four free tickets, while retired players with five years of service can receive up to two. Each of the three game officials also have two ticket comps for a total of six. All told, that could be close to 150 more tickets the Dream cannot sell.
According to the memo, the Finals bring the most lucrative playoff gate revenue of the season. For the first round of the playoffs, the home team retains 85% of the net gate and the league office receives 15%, with a cap of $100,000. In the second round, the home team again receives 85% of net gate and the league 15%, capped at $200,000.
The first two games of the Finals are Saturday and Monday in S.F., before the series returns to Atlanta for a Game 3 likely to take place in the small arena. “I can’t really describe it,” Dream President & COO Morgan Shaw Parker said last week of the Gateway Center’s ambiance. “It’s like passing a plate of food with your family and your friends in the backyard.”