Valkyries' Joe Lacob Talks Role in Helping Dream Change Locations for WNBA Finals

Golden State Valkyries governor Joe Lacob revealed that he helped influence the decision to move the first two Atlanta Dream home games of the 2026 WNBA Finals from Gateway Center Arena to State Farm Arena.

"I put quite a bit of pressure on the commissioner of the NBA and the WNBA," Lacob told Janie McCauley of the Associated Press. "I felt, look, it's not really about us it's about the league. The look would not be too good to have Ballhalla and 18,000 fans here and 3,500 over there."

He explained that he wanted to crowd atmosphere to feel the same in Atlanta and Golden State ahead of their Finals matchup.

"I think it's important for the league to play these games in the Finals, a great championship between two very good teams, in front of the same kind of crowd in both places," Lacob said, per McCauley.

On Tuesday, the WNBA announced the venue change for Games 3 and 4 in Atlanta.

Gateway Center Arena, the usual home of the Dream, has the smallest capacity in the WNBA at just 3,500. Meanwhile, State Farm Arena can seat over 17,000 fans.

If the change wasn't made, there would have been a stark contrast in the crowd sizes for Atlanta and Golden State during the series. The Valkyries are set to host the first pair of games of the 2026 Finals at the Chase Center, which has a capacity of 18,064.

The Dream enter the series with plenty of momentum, as they swept the Washington Mystics and New York Liberty in the first two rounds of the playoffs.

The Valkyries also haven't faced much resistance, going 5-1 in the postseason while taking down the Dallas Wings and Las Vegas Aces.

Game 1 between Atlanta and Golden State is on Saturday, with tip-off at 3:30 p.m. ET.