Golden State Valkyries No. 1 Gabby Williams goes to the basket against Atlanta Dream No. 5 Angel Reese during the third quarter of Game 2 of the WNBA Finals at Chase Center on October 19, 2026 in San Francisco, California.
Ezra Shogetti Images
The rescheduling of Game 6 of the WNBA Finals to Thursday’s 12:30 p.m. ET time slot puts a spotlight on a league that is ready for a bigger stage, even if the WNBA isn’t always ready for a bigger stage.
Game 6 between the Atlanta Dream and Golden State Valkyries will be played Thursday at 12:30 PM ET/9:30 AM PT, which is a shocking time for an elimination game. If Golden State wins, the series will be 4-2. If the Dream wins, the series will return to Golden State for Game 7 on Saturday, October 31st.
It was revealed earlier this week that there was a good chance the series would run into timing issues in Game 6. The Dream plays their playoff games at Atlanta’s State Farm Arena, which is the home of the Atlanta Hawks and seats 17,000. State Farm will be the Dream’s permanent home starting next season.
A problem arose in Game 6. The Hawks also play at State Farm tonight. The Dream play their regular season games at Gateway Center Arena, which seats just 3,500 people.
Multiparty discussions began earlier this week between WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, Atlanta Hawks CEO Steve Kunin and the team’s ownership group, Versant, which owns the media rights to Game 6. All parties began brainstorming ideas for when and where to play the game.
The Dream and Hawks have different ownership. The Dream issued an open letter Tuesday saying they raised concerns with the WNBA about the potential conflict two months ago, but those concerns were ignored. Sources close to the league say it is the teams’ responsibility to secure their arenas in the event of a conflict. The playoff schedule will be announced by the league in December 2025.
Dream never secured another arena to play the game other than Gateway. The NBA was brought in just days ago to help resolve the issue, two people familiar with the matter said. The WNBA has its own scheduling division separate from the NBA.
Earlier this week, team, league and Versant executives began announcing solutions. A variety of options were considered, including moving the Hawks’ game to a different time, continuing the game at Gateway, and having Game 6 played in front of a crowd of 3,500. They also considered moving Game 6 to either Wednesday, Friday or Saturday at State Farm, then moving Game 7 to San Francisco or finding another local arena.
All options involving day changes had issues. The Hawks also played on Wednesday. USA Network already hosted WWE’s Friday Night SmackDown in its Friday primetime TV slot and Breeders’ Cup on Saturday afternoons. State Farm already had a concert scheduled for Saturday night featuring rapper and singer Young Miko. Moving Game 7 to Tuesday would add weight to voting day.
A view outside State Farm Arena before Game 4 of the 2026 WNBA Finals between the Golden State Valkyries and the Atlanta Dream on October 24, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Kevin C. Cox | Getty Images
The Hawks’ game could not be moved to 12:30 p.m. ET, given a provision in the existing NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement that does not allow teams to play without a 22-hour break. The Hawks and Cleveland Cavaliers will play tonight at 7pm ET.
There was also discussion of moving the Hawks’ game to another month, but given the NBA’s congested schedule, too many other teams’ schedules would have to be rescheduled to make this a reality, people familiar with the matter said.
Given the importance of the game, both teams and players did not want to play at the Gateway, but Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr echoed this sentiment this week, saying that rescheduling the game would be “better than playing it at the YMCA.”
Officials said both teams were uncomfortable playing in a non-professional basketball stadium like Mercedes-Benz Stadium, where the Atlanta Falcons play, due to potential safety concerns and unfamiliarity with the venue.
The Dream sold out State Farm, and today’s game is already sold out. Golden State plays at Chase Center in San Francisco, which has a capacity of 18,000 fans. The atmosphere at Valkyries games throughout the playoffs was on par with almost any game in the NBA Finals. Golden State calls its arena “Valhalla.”
Versant initially supported keeping the game on Gateway to maximize primetime viewership, according to people familiar with the matter. A skilled sports television production team can make a game with just 3,500 fans seem much bigger and bigger to the television audience.
Moving the game to 12:30 p.m. ET would likely result in the loss of hundreds of thousands of fans, according to two media executives who requested anonymity for fear of retaliation from the league. Game 2 averaged 1.33 million viewers on USA Network and Peacock. Had Game 6 been played in prime time, the average would almost certainly have been higher.
This is the reason behind the postponement of the game time. The game will be broadcast on USA and two other Versant networks, E! And Siffi. It will also be rebroadcast on USA Network and CNBC at 8pm ET (original start time).
Still, the amount of attention the schedule change has received in recent days could increase awareness of the game. “While the daytime slot is not perfect from a television viewer perspective, the league had to make some very difficult decisions considering multiple stakeholders,” a USA Network spokesperson said. “What was important to us was ultimately being a good partner and being part of the solution.”
Disclosure: CNBC, USA Network, E! and Syfy are divisions of Versant Media.
