On March 12 Atlanta Dream Majority Owner, Larry Gottesdiener, announced the team had moved their home opener on May 22 from Gateway Center Arena (capacity: 5000) to State Farm Arena (capacity: 16,888). On the surface, that's not a bad thing — it just means way more people want to see a WNBA game, right?
The Dream's opener isn't exactly an average WNBA game. The team will face the Fever, which likely explains why a venue that can hold more than three times as many fans is necessary in the first place.
But instead of acknowledging the truth staring everyone in the face, Gottesdiener explained the swap was due to a "scheduling conflict" at Gateway — the same arena he told reporters the organization has "invested significant resources and energy" to make it the "most unique home-court experience in the WNBA." If that's the case, then there's one looming question: how do you double-book your own arena on the same night as your opening home game?
The Dream made some big free agency moves
This year's period of free agency was an exciting one for the Dream. The team added Phoenix Mercury star Brittney Griner to the roster as well as Brionna Jones and Shatori Walker Kimbrough. So it's fair to say that fans are excited to see the team play, but if the move were purely because of increased interest in the Dream alone, then it would stand to reason that all of the team's home games would be moved to State Farm.
So far, that doesn't seem to be the case. There also weren't any events listed on Gateway's public events calendar on May 22, 2025, at the time of writing, and Ticketmaster isn't selling tickets for any events there, either.
The Dream also previously moved games against the Fever to State Farm last year.
The Dream has not moved the team's second game against the Fever
The Fever will return to Atlanta on June 10, but that game is still being played at Gateway. It's important to note that Wu-Tang Clan plays State Farm on June 11, and that's likely the reason why this second game hasn't been moved as well... except then Gottesdiener's original explanation doesn't make sense.
In the rest of his statement, Gottesdiener made it clear that the home opener is the game that's been moved due to a so-called "scheduling conflict." He said, "However, due to a scheduling conflict at Gateway, we saw an opportunity to bring this exciting early-season matchup to State Farm Arena, allowing even more fans to experience it. We appreciate the hospitality."
Plenty of fans have express their skepticism about the real reason for the swap, which will be a good thing no matter what — after all, the more, the merrier, scheduling conf