The Atlanta Dream's ownership group went for the jugular on Tuesday night, when they published an open letter to Atlanta which highlighted the difficulties that the franchise faced in securing State Farm Arena for Game 6 of the WNBA Finals.
In the letter, Dream ownership wrote that it alerted the WNBA that the Finals schedule conflicted with the start of the NBA season, and Atlanta Hawks games that would take place at State Farm Arena.
"Our concerns did not receive the attention, nor the urgency that they deserved," the letter said.
The Atlanta Dream sent out a letter to fans. They dove into the scheduling hurdles of the WNBA Finals and expressed what appears to be frustration. From the letter: “Perhaps it was assumed that the Dream would not make it this far. Perhaps, our place in the Finals was not accounted for. Whatever the reason, the reality is that we are here. We earned our place in the Finals, and our city deserves the opportunity to show up for its team.
— Meghan L. Hall (@ItsMeghanLHall) October 27, 2026The WNBA's stance though is a bit different, and it has created a back-and-forth that is an unnecessary distraction for a Dream team that is down 3-2 in the WNBA Finals.
MORE: The WNBA and Dream have turned the Finals into a nightmare with Game 6 venue, time change
ESPN's Alexa Philippou and The Athletic's Annie Constabile both have reported that the WNBA shared the prospective 2026 playoff dates with its franchises on Dec. 4, 2025.
The hold dates have proven to be accurate; the Finals have been slated to end on Oct. 31 and will do so if the Dream wins Game 6 on Thursday.
The Dream said that while it reiterated the issues as the playoffs went on, "our concerns did not receive the attention, nor the urgency they deserved." Sources told @alexaphilippou that the dates for the 2026 playoffs were sent internally to teams on Dec. 4, 2025. https://t.co/JerIMMNVip
— ESPN (@espn) October 28, 2026Part of the Dream's inability to secure State Farm Arena for the Finals -- a gridlock which created the challenge of a midday tip-off on Thursday -- is the fact that it is not their primary arena.
The Dream will leave the 3,500-seat Gateway Center Arena permanently in 2027 to play each of its home games at the 17,000-seat State Farm Arena.
But because of Atlanta's unexpected run to the Finals, the Dream has had to contract more games than anticipated at the arena. Though the Dream ultimately will be able to host three Finals games at State Farm Arena, the tension that accompanied negotiations to hold these games at the larger venue are hardly becoming of a top league.
Dream ownership placed blame on the WNBA for the scheduling chaos that led to the decision to hold Game 6 at 12:30 pm ET on Thursday. However, the Dream announced Wednesday morning that Game 6 was sold out, which will be a massive boost to Angel Reese and company as they try to save their season.
Thank you, Dreamers 🙌 Game 6 is officially SOLD OUT because of you! Let's pull up and get ready to rally our Atlanta Dream to victory! See you tomorrow 🩵 https://t.co/tL9FoKXcAq
— Atlanta Dream (@AtlantaDream) October 28, 2026That said, the public spat between the WNBA and the Dream's ownership group is yet another controversy enveloping outgoing commissioner Cathy Engelbert and her office -- though this one was prompted by an untimely open letter from the Dream.
And the timing couldn't really be worse, as it distracts from the intense, hard-fought basketball that has been on display in the Finals.
It's up to Reese, Rhyne Howard and the rest of the Dream to focus on what they can control: playing the best 40 minutes of basketball they can.
