Owners of the Atlanta Dream blame the league’s lack of “urgency” for a scheduling issue that resulted in Game 6 of the WNBA Finals being played at 12:30 p.m. ET on Thursday.
“Playing a midday game on a Thursday is not what we would have chosen and not what we fought for,” owners Larry and Robyn Gottesdiener, Suzanne Abair and Renee Montgomery wrote in “An Open Letter to Atlanta” on Tuesday.
Like Games 3 and 4 of the best-of-seven series, which the Golden State Valkyries lead 3-2, Game 6 is being held at the home of the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks in 17,000-seat State Farm Arena.
The Hawks agreed to push their Thursday night tip-off against the Cleveland Cavaliers to 8 p.m. ET to accommodate the doubleheader. If not, the game would likely have been played at the Dream’s 3,500-seat regular-season home at Gateway Center Arena in suburban College Park, Ga.
The owners said they approached the WNBA to raise concerns about a potential scheduling conflict “two months ago,” but said their “concerns did not receive the attention, nor the urgency that they deserved.”
The WNBA did not respond to a request for comment from Front Office Sports.
“We believed that our fans and the city wanted the opportunity to be a part of this historic series, and to see it played on a world-class stage,” the owners wrote. “That meant State Farm Arena. We are grateful to everyone who helped make that happen.”
The Dream’s owners thanked the fans for “your patience, your flexibility, and your willingness to navigate all the hurdles being placed in front of us.”
After taking a 2-1 lead in the Finals, Atlanta lost 67-62 at home in Game 4 on Saturday and 64-55 in San Francisco in Game 5 on Monday. Both teams are trying to win their first WNBA title.
–Field Level Media
