After days of uncertainty and the day of the game itself looming later in the week, the WNBA settled on a time and location for the Finals Game 6 between the Golden State Valkyries and Atlanta Dream.
Game 6 will be played at State Farm Arena, but moved from its scheduled 8 p.m. ET tipoff time to 12:30 p.m. ET/9:30 a.m. PT to accommodate the NBA's Atlanta Hawks scheduled regular-season game. The Hawks' home game against the Cleveland Cavaliers moved back an hour to tip off at 8 p.m. ET for the weekday day/night doubleheader in the venue.
A potential Game 7 remains scheduled for 5 p.m. PT on Halloween night Saturday at Chase Center.
If not for the adjustment, the WNBA's first Game 6 would have likely been played at the Gateway Center Arena at College Park, the Dream's home arena for a majority of the regular season that seats just 3,500 people. State Farm Arena has a 17,000 capacity, and will be the Dream's full-time home venue in 2027. Conversely, this means a potential clinching Game 6 will be played mid-day during a work day – far from ideal for viewership and fan attendance.
"It's the Finals, you gotta do what you gotta do," Dream guard Allisha Gray said of the time shift. "We can play at 8 a.m., 10 a.m., you have a championship to win."
Other hypothetical contingencies included moving Game 6 to Friday, Oct. 30 in Atlanta – an open date at State Farm Arena – and Game 7 to Nov. 3 at Chase Center, according to reports. That adjustment would have created three off days between Games 6 and 7, however.
The Hawks and State Farm Arena officials previously rescheduled a concert and pushed the Hawks' home opener on Saturday to accommodate Games 3 and 4 in Atlanta. The doubleheader worked out nicely last week when the Valkyries and Dream played Game 4 at 1 p.m. ET and the Hawks tipped off at 8:30 p.m. ET on Saturday.
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There’s more to San Francisco with the Chronicle. Subscribe today for just 25¢.This article originally published at WNBA belatedly puts Valkyries-Dream Finals Game 6 in Atlanta's State Farm Arena.