The Atlanta Dream have officially capped a historic 2025 season by landing the No. 3 overall seed in this year's playoffs, which will pit the team against the Indiana Fever during the first round. Atlanta will host the first game on Sunday, September 14 — and, despite the fact that the match has the potential to attract tens of thousands of fans, the game will take place at the Gateway Center Arena, which has a capacity of 3,500.
Like the Golden State Valkyries, the Dream has found themselves the victim of another event: Dua Lipa will perform at the State Farm Arena, which has a capacity of more than 17,000. The tour was announced in November 2024, which means it was planned well before anyone knew the Dream would have the kind of season they're having — but that doesn't entirely get the team's front office off the hook.
While it's fair to say no one knew in 2024 that the Dream would make a few powerful free agency moves and assemble perhaps the strongest roster in franchise history... questions surrounding why the team play at College Park instead of State Farm date back to at least 2019, so this issue isn't exactly new.
The Dream departed State Farm in 2019
In September 2019 the Dream announced the team would no longer play at the State Farm Arena because they had failed to negotiate a new deal with the Atlanta Hawks. Then GM and president Chris Sienko emphasized that the team had hoped to remain downtown, but reporting from the Athletic indicates the team struggled to fill the stadium and, at the time, averaged 4,270 fans per game.
The WNBA has grown by leaps and bounds since 2019, but the Dream's arena question has remained intact. The team sold out the State Farm Arena ahead of their season opener in May, a strong indication that there are plenty of WNBA fans in the city who want to see the team play. Unfortunately, the Dream has continued to play most of their games at College Park.
It's unclear if the situation will change ahead of the 2026 season, and hopefully the arena question is one the team's front office will adequately address. The Dream is heading into this year's playoffs with their strongest shot at a title that the team has had in years, and they deserve to have as many home fans supporting them as possible.