“Astounding”: Caitlin Clark’s Biographer Offers Thoughts After Valkyries Owner Reveals Role in Bringing Dream’s Finals Games to Atlanta

The Atlanta Dream were facing a stadium crisis so severe that even the owner of the Golden State Valkyries, their WNBA Finals opponents, had to rally for them. Christine Brennan, author of On Her Game: Caitlin Clark and the Revolution in Women’s Sports, took note of this and pointed out where NBA and WNBA management are falling short.

In a recent X post, Brennan replied to a quote by the owner of the Golden State Valkyries and Warriors, who spoke about his role in ensuring that the Atlanta Dream have a venue big enough to host their home games in the Finals series against the Valkyries.

“Such a telling quote,” wrote Brennan. “You’d hope Cathy Engelbert and Adam Silver would be leading the way on important decisions like this and wouldn’t need to be pressured. But no. The lack of leadership from the leaders of the WNBA remains astounding.”

Brennan’s quotes come after the Valkyries owner, Joe Lacob, spoke to The Associated Press on Tuesday about the importance of having a decent venue to host fans excited to watch the Finals games.

“I put quite a bit of pressure on the commissioner of the NBA and the WNBA. I felt, look, it’s not really about us, it’s about the league,” Lacob said. “The look would not be too good to have Ballhalla and 18,000 fans here and 3,500 over there. 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.”

The Dream have had an issue with seating a larger number of fans all season, as the WNBA has recently begun enjoying mainstream public attention. Atlanta hosts their home games at the Gateway Center Arena, which has a capacity of 3,500 for basketball events. According to the Sports Business Journal, the Dream averaged 6,928 fans in arenas in 2026, a big bump from their 2025 average of 4,480. And the finals will definitely call for a much larger seating capacity. 

The Dream was trying to move Games 3 & 4 to the State Farm Arena, home of the Atlanta Hawks. State Farm Arena has a capacity of over 17,608. The Dream have already held six regular-season games and three previous home playoff games at the State Farm Arena this season.

There were issues that cropped up when the move was being deliberated, as Sombr was meant to perform on Oct. 22, clashing with Game 3. Meanwhile, Game 4 was in question as well, as the Atlanta Hawks were set to host their NBA season opener on Oct. 24 against the Houston Rockets, which they still will, but half an hour later, while the Dream will start its game at 1:oo p.m. ET instead of 3:30 p.m. ET.

In comparison to State Farm, the Valkyries’ home arena, the Chase Center, can house a little over 18,000 fans, and is famous for its loud support of the team, earning the name Ballhalla. Valkyries head coach Natalie Nakase even refers to Ballhalla as the team’s “sixth man”. But Brennan chose to focus on something beyond just the change of venue.

Brennan has recently referred to the WNBA leadership as “rudderless” and has even posted on X that she hopes the next WNBA Commissioner, after Cathy Engelbert steps down at the end of this season, will make right the “ridiculous minimization of Clark’s impact” by Engelbert.

But despite Brennan’s comments, Cathy Engelbert expressed how grateful she was that State Farm Arena could accommodate the Dream’s home games.

“The change of venue dramatically expands the seating capacity and ensures that the Dream will be able to provide an extraordinary atmosphere for the first WNBA Finals game to be played in the Atlanta market since 2013,” Engelbert said in a WNBA release.

Angel Reese, the Dream’s franchise star, has expressed similar excitement in the matter, per The Associated Press.

“It’s really exciting,” Reese said. “I really do enjoy Gateway, so I wouldn’t have minded being here in Gateway. But I know the growth of women’s basketball, the growth of the Atlanta Dream, the support here that we have is just phenomenal and it has continued to skyrocket.”

Reese has been a driving force behind the Atlanta Dream making it to the Finals, having led the league all season with 12.1 rebounds per game to go with her 16.4 points per game. The Dream will now face their ultimate challenge as they face the defensive Valkyries led by Gabby Williams, with Game 1 held at Chase Center on Oct. 17.

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