Game 6 of the WNBA Finals between the Atlanta Dream and the Golden State Valkyries will be played at State Farm Arena on Thursday afternoon at 12:30 p.m. ET, the league announced a few hours before Game 5 was set to take place on Monday night.
The WNBA worked hard with the NBA to move the game to State Farm Arena — home of the Atlanta Hawks — where Games 3 and 4 of the championship series were played.
The Hawks have a game against the Cleveland Cavaliers
that night that couldn't be moved to another date or place. The only way they could make it work was to play the early afternoon game. The Hawks game against the Cavaliers was moved back an hour.
“The sellout crowds and extraordinary atmosphere at State Farm Arena for Games 3 and 4 were a tremendous success, and we’re excited to give thousands more fans the opportunity to experience Game 6 with a championship on the line,” WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said. “We thank the NBA, Dream, Valkyries, Hawks, State Farm Arena and USA Network for the collaboration and flexibility that made this move possible. We look forward to delivering another unforgettable Finals experience in Atlanta.”
Game 5 will start at 8 p.m. ET in San Francisco.
By playing Game 6 in State Farm Arena, the Dream can have more than 17,000 fans as opposed to their normal home of Gateway Center Arena, which seats about 3,500. Games 3 and 4 were sold out.
It was the third time in the series that the WNBA made accommodations for the Dream to be able to play at the bigger arena. Game 3 was moved up a day to last Wednesday and Saturday’s contest started at 1 p.m. ET so the Hawks could still host their home opener that night against Houston.
That game was moved back 30 minutes to allow more time for the arena staff to change the building over for the Hawks contest. Now there potentially could be a champion crowned that day so there will be more time between games.
The NBA and WNBA explored options to keep the game in primetime.
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