State Farm Arena in Atlanta, seen in 2022 before an NBA game between the Hawks and the Los Angeles Lakers, will host games 3 and 4 of the WNBA Finals to accommodate a larger audience.
The Atlanta Dream will host the Golden State Valkyries in Game 3 and Game 4 of the WNBA Finals at State Farm Arena, allowing for larger attendance, after the league moved one up a day and altered tipoff of the other to avoid conflicts at the venue.
Game 3 of the best-of-seven series will now be Wednesday, Oct. 21. Tipoff for Game 4 on Saturday, Oct. 24 will be 1 p.m. Eastern, 2 1/2 hours before the previously scheduled start time. The series begins Saturday in California.
“I put quite a bit of pressure on the commissioner of the NBA and the WNBA. I felt, look, it’s not really about us, it’s about the league,” Warriors and Valkyries owner Joe Lacob said Tuesday in a phone interview with The Associated Press. “The look would not be too good to have Ballhalla and 18,000 fans here and 3,500 over there. I think it’s important for the league to play these games in the finals, a great championship between two very good teams, in front of the same kind of crowd in both places.”