Angel Reese agonizes over ‘bittersweet’ decision to flip WNBA Finals to 17,000 arena

Women’s sports are massive and the Atlanta Dream have proven that.

When Angel Reese‘s Dream confirmed their place in the 2026 WNBA Finals after a 3-0 sweep of the New York Liberty, there was a scheduling conflict which initially meant that they would not be able to host Games 3 and 4 at State Farm Arena.

Getty

Due to the 17,000-capacity arena serving as the home of NBA team Atlanta Hawks, and with the dates of the WNBA Finals not aligning, the Dream looked as though they would be hosting the Golden State Valkyries at Gateway Center Arena instead.

The caveat of this was that it can only accommodate 3,500 spectators.

In contrast, the Valkyries, who play all of their home games at Chase Center in San Francisco – sharing their arena with the Golden State Warriors – will welcome over 18,000 fans for their first Finals appearance in franchise history.

Earlier reports previously indicated that the Dream exhausted their options to find a larger venue to play at.

On Tuesday, however, the announcement was made that accommodations had been made to ensure that the Dream would be able to play at State Farm Arena after all, with the Hawks ownership group and Valkyries owner Joe Lacob each lobbying for the switch.

“The ownership of the Atlanta Hawks, Tony Ressler, wanted us to do everything in our power to make it happen because it’s great for basketball in Atlanta,” Hawks CEO Steve Koonin told ESPN.

“It’s great for the Dream. It’s great for State Farm Arena. We talked to everybody from executives at State Farm to the league to the TV networks, and everyone had major conviction: let’s do everything we can to make it happen.”

For Defensive Player of the Year Reese, though, this move is slightly ‘bittersweet’.

“It’s a bittersweet moment because I do love Gateway so much, and I love the intimacy of being here, and all the fans coming out and supporting us,” Reese told Luke Hetrick of Action News 2.

“Even if we couldn’t go to State Farm, I was gonna just be grateful to be able to be here and have everybody here. We probably would have had a big TV outside, and everybody would have been outside.

Getty

Getty

“There would have been a whole cookout and have a good time. But I am looking forward to everybody showing up and supporting us at State Farm because every game has been a great turnout.

“Celebrities on the side. Everybody coming to support. You don’t know who you’re going to see in Atlanta, so everybody always has fun.”

Logisitics of transforming arena requires practice

In order to make this work, though, the WNBA and NBA have had to work in tandem to make some adjustments to their schedules.

Therefore, Game 3 will be moved to October 21 from it’s original date of October 22, and Game 4 will move to 1 PM ET on October 24.

Furthermore, the Hawks agreed to move the start time of their 2026-27 regular-season home opener to later that evening.

This, of course, will require a tight logistical plan to be carried out.

WNBA insider Alex Philippou explained how this will work on X, writing, “On the day of the double-header, the arena will change out the court from the Dream one to the Hawks one.

“Koonin told ESPN it will take three-plus hours to flip the building, everything from changing the court and cameras to resetting the seats and more. They’re even doing practice sessions to see if they can speed up the process.”

Nonetheless, this move – with all parties working together – is a powerful statement that highlights the growing impact of profession women’s sports in this current day and age.