{"id":946392,"date":"2026-10-26T02:06:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-26T02:06:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/946392\/"},"modified":"2026-10-26T02:06:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-26T02:06:09","slug":"arena-location-for-game-6-of-wnba-finals-remains-a-problem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/946392\/","title":{"rendered":"Arena location for Game 6 of WNBA Finals remains a problem"},"content":{"rendered":"

With the WNBA Finals between the Atlanta Dream<\/a> and Golden State Valkyries<\/a> tied at two games apiece, we know there is going to be a Game 6 in the series, and we know it is going to be played in Atlanta.\u00a0<\/p>\n

We also know it will be a potential series-clinching game for one team, which makes it an even bigger deal than your typical Finals game.<\/p>\n

Especially when both teams are playing for their first championship.<\/p>\n

There is, however, a problem that needs to be resolved before Thursday’s tip-off.<\/p>\n

The problem is where the game will actually be played.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Arena schedules creating havoc for Game\u00a06 of WNBA Finals<\/p>\n

The Dream’s normal home arena — Gateway Center Arena — holds just 3,500 people, and is not really the type of venue that is fitting for a playoff series, and certainly not a championship series. Especially given the demand for tickets and the interest in the league.<\/p>\n

Atlanta has been playing its playoff games, including its first two WNBA Finals games, at State Farm Arena (capacity: 17,000), which is the home of the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The problem that has developed for Thursday’s game is that the Hawks, who have priority for the arena, are scheduled to play the Cleveland Cavaliers<\/a> at home that night.<\/p>\n

While this was already a problem earlier in the series, the Hawks, NBA and WNBA all came to an agreement to move Game 3 up one day, and for the Hawks to move their Saturday night tip-off time back 30 minutes to allow for the WNBA game to be played in the afternoon.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A Thursday night does not offer that same level of flexibility that a Saturday would.<\/p>\n

There are logistical scheduling issues with trying to move the Hawks-Cavaliers game, with the biggest one being that both teams are dealing with a back-to-back situation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Moving the game to Cleveland is one idea that has reportedly been discussed, but it’s hard to imagine the Hawks would be willing to go along with that.\u00a0<\/p>\n

More details, from ESPN<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Following Thursday’s game, Cleveland is supposed to play Saturday in Milwaukee, which could also be hosting Game 7 of the World Series. Fridays are NBA Cup exclusive games, while Hawks-Cavaliers is a non-Cup game.<\/p>\n

State Farm Arena has open dates on Tuesday — the day after Golden State hosts Game 5 — and Friday. One proposal would move Game 6 of the WNBA Finals to Friday and Game 7, if necessary, from Saturday, Oct. 31, at Chase Center to Tuesday, Nov. 3.<\/p>\n

The WNBA would support that proposal, but only if both teams agree to it, sources said.<\/p>\n

The Valkyries have raised concerns about moving two WNBA Finals games and the three off days that proposal would create in between Games 5 and 6 as well as between Games 6 and 7, sources said.<\/p>\n

It is a lot of headaches, and it could result in perhaps the least-desirable option: Game 6 being played in the 3,500-seat arena. The WNBA is experiencing an all-time high in popularity, and the crowds in the playoffs have not only been huge, but they have had\u00a0incredible energy and atmosphere.<\/p>\n

They are going to want this game, and certainly a potential series-clinching game, to be played in that sort of environment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

They might figure out a way to get it done, but it is not going to be easy.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With the WNBA Finals between the Atlanta Dream and Golden State Valkyries tied at two games apiece, we…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":946393,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[629],"tags":[49,48,82,630],"class_list":["post-946392","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/946392","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=946392"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/946392\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/946393"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=946392"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=946392"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=946392"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}