With the WNBA Finals now set to go at least six games, a venue for Game 6 in the series still needs to be decided.
The Golden State Valkyries and Atlanta Dream are tied 2-2 in the best-of-seven with Game 5 on Monday in San Francisco. The winner of that game can clinch the title in Game 6 on Thursday in Atlanta.
With no schedule change, Game 6 could end up being played at the 3,500-seat Gateway Center, which is the regular home for Dream games. But Atlanta has been playing in the 17,000-seat State Farm Arena for its playoff games and sold out Games 3 and 4 of the Finals at the venue.
On Thursday night, the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks are scheduled to face the Cleveland Cavaliers at State Farm Arena, creating a venue conflict.
The WNBA handled arena scheduling conflicts for Games 3 and 4 in Atlanta with schedule changes for those games. Game 4 was moved to a 1 p.m. local start with the Hawks playing host to the Houston Rockets later in the day.
With Game 5 on Monday and a potential Game 7 on Saturday, the league has options to change the date of Game 6. Because Game 6 is scheduled to be played on a weekday, a start-time change to create another WNBA/NBA doubleheader is not likely.
According to Front Office Sports, a change in date is not as simple as the WNBA deciding it will happen. USA Network is set to broadcast Game 6 at 8 p.m. local time and must be agreeable to the change, according to the report, with the visiting Valkyries also having a say in any changes.
–Field Level Media
