r/wnba • u/indyvalpo • 2d ago

Any chance Atlanta and Washington

Move to legitimate sized arenas next season?

11 Upvotes

79% Upvoted

34 comments sorted by

53

u/aperiodic Hardest working starting 5 in the W 2d ago

Every time I watch a Dream home game I feel bad for how much it feels like they’re in a fancy high school gym

37

u/Ok-Arm-8028 Dream 2d ago

don’t feel too bad for us! a lot of season ticket holders prefer the smaller arena compared to our upgraded capacity games. it gives a really intimate feel and the energy is insane! 

9

u/jrpington Dream 1d ago

Not an STH but I actually don’t mind it. There isn’t a bad seat in the building and everyone really gets into the game. My only complaint is the low supply high demand prices me out sometimes, but I can usually find a decent deal if I pay attention to Ticketmaster and Seat Geek in the week leading up to a game.

17

u/JTBeefboyo 2d ago

Yeah same here. When the Mystics play at the larger venues, we pick up 6000 “fans” who come to take selfies and cheer for the other team lol

10

u/jupitermoon9 2d ago

While they do really need a larger arena, for financial growth, it's a really nice place to see games in person. No matter what ticket you buy, you feel close to the players and actions. It's a modern, fairly new facility. Easy to get in and out of, as well. Over the years, I've been to their games at State Farm Arena, McCamish and Gateway. Gateway is the nicest experience of the three. Although, I know the size is a limiting factor.

3

u/aperiodic Hardest working starting 5 in the W 2d ago

I bet it’s a great experience for fans (as long as it’s not too pricy), because the smaller venue must feel more intimate. But I feel like the players deserve to play in front of a larger crowd

3

u/jupitermoon9 2d ago edited 2d ago

I agree it needs to be a larger arena for the growth in the fan base and the financial stability of the team. Overall, a fair amount of the home game prices are reasonable and good considering how close you are seated (mostly $60 to 90 range for the long sides and there aren't more than about 17 rows, so every seat is great; and in the 40s on the end zone). That's a bit higher than a few years ago. They can get higher, though, for certain opposing teams such as Fever, Aces or Wings or for a specialty night such as HBCU, for example.

And, with the arena being small, you don't have any super cheap "nosebleed" seats for those big games. I don't really like sitting too far from the action. But, I know things are going to trend upwards in ticket prices. Now, we have this nice period where you get good seats that aren't outrageously priced yet. Not sure how long that will last. My family goes to 3 games a season, sometimes 4, but we have to avoid the high priced team/games. I think the playoff prices will likely be out of reach for me, though, this time around, with the team being good. Probably resellers will snap up a bunch.

19

u/Suitable-Owl989 2d ago

I literally feel claustrophobic just watching those games from my phone

5

u/bex199 Liberty 2d ago

don’t feel bad - it’s one of my absolute favorite venues to catch a game. it’s an absolute blast and a vibe.

2

u/SilverBackGuerilla Mystics 2d ago

My alum ( Florida Atlantic University) has a small arena too and everyone online talks shit about how it's a high school gym too. It's honestly one of the best environments to be at though because it gets extremely loud and hot, which also disrupts the opposing teams. The broadcasts are horrible to watch because all you can hear is the bleachers banging and the student section jumping and screaming, which makes up almost half of the 4000 capacity. If they were to upgrade it would most definitely not be anywhere near capacity and feel like a shell of its former self.

I get the same feelings going to mystics games. Though I currently have a bone to pick with their security.

13

u/easydice413 2d ago

Only if they put in bids for expansion first, can't cut the line 🙃

12

u/dreamweaver7x 0 13 5 14 10 8 51 2 1 8 9 2d ago

Article on Atlanta's search for a new home. Good news - they're not locked into a long-term contract with Gateway. Bad news - they don't think they're ready to move full time into State Farm, home of the Hawks. So there's a chance they move into a place that's between Gateway's 4k seats and State Farm's 14k seats, but nothing's been decided.

For Washington there's no good news. They're locked in a long-term lease until 2037 and the state isn't interested in letting them leave.

11

u/Lou_Lou_8082 2d ago

The article is from December 2023. A lot has happened since then. It’s all complicated and manipulative weaseling by the slimy owners. I am not 100% sure of everything, but I think in sum, the Mystics arena , which the city of DC owns, got a corporate sponsor, it’s called First Care Arena. They negotiated that the Mystics can move a certain number of games to the NBA arena, Capital One; however, this season they are repairing Capital One so only four games got moved-two to Baltimore and two to Virginia. But next year, more games will be at capital one (20k capacity).

A lot of this came about because the sleezy owner (Ted Leonsis) tried to screw DC and move the Wizards to Virginia, but Virginia didn’t want them. A 90 year Virginia state senator stood up the owner and his shenanigans and blocked the whole deal. It was awesome!!

3

u/SilverBackGuerilla Mystics 2d ago

The Mystics games at GMU this year were awesome. A 10 minute drive to see them compared to a 45 minute metro. I wish they did all 4 there but I guess I can share with MD too.

1

u/Lou_Lou_8082 1d ago

Two sides to every coin. Those two games were awful for me. A 1 hour drive in lots of traffic. No metro option. Next year it seems likely there will not be any games at GMU or Baltimore. The non-First Care Arena will be at capital one arena.

2

u/coffee0verdose Mystics 2d ago

We we’re told when buying our season tickets that they aren’t doing CAP1 next season either

3

u/Lou_Lou_8082 1d ago

Interesting, we’ve heard the opposite. But then again, the Mystics are such a poorly run organization so I wouldn’t trust anything they say

1

u/coffee0verdose Mystics 1d ago

So true 😂

5

u/aperiodic Hardest working starting 5 in the W 2d ago

Maybe the state could at least upgrade the cameras so there’s not that annoying green/magenta chromatic aberration around the players on the broadcast

4

u/Lou_Lou_8082 2d ago

Also, DC is not a state

1

u/RoosterSamurai Valkyries 2d ago

It's not a state, but it feels like DC is a reason why Baltimore never gets a basketball team. It's apparently a populous enough city for the orioles and Ravens, despite Philly not being too far off (and being the preferred market for Delaware residents)

2

u/AllStarSpecial10001 Dream | PaigeBuckets 2d ago

The Duluth Dream would make me happy

1

u/deltiologist2 2d ago

I wonder if they'd ever consider moving to GasSouth Arena... the ACC Women's Tournament is playing there in 2026. It's about 11,000 capacity I think

1

u/jupitermoon9 2d ago

I believe Gateway only seats 3,500 for Dream games. For concerts, they can handle higher number.

7

u/tundrabeans Dream 1d ago

I’d love for the team to get more money obviously but damn the way they are now there isn’t a bad seat in the Dream house. Every view is a good view.

4

u/350smooth Fever 2d ago

At least ATL games feel normal on TV. The camera feels way to close in DC and Dallas.

6

u/Got_Gasoline Sun 2d ago

Unrelated to the above two teams but Dallas is moving to the convention center next year which will be a slightly larger arena so that’s kind of cool imo

5

u/Ill1458 2d ago

I read there were delays and they’ll be playing on the UTexas Arlington campus again next season.

1

u/Icangetloudtoo_ Mystics 2d ago

Mystics have two options: CareFirst Arena (4,200) and Capital One Arena (20,000). Their ownership group owns both.

They’ve committed to the city to stay in CareFirst for a long time, but that was part of a larger negotiation that isn’t worth getting into here—I think, at this point, the city would likely consent to them moving to Cap One since it’s still in DC and it’d be bad politics for Dems to try to fight the growth of women’s sports.

Regardless, the Mystics can’t move for a few seasons because Capital One Arena is undergoing renovations during the summer (offseason for the NBA and NHL teams that play there). The arena just literally isn’t available even if they wanted to move.

Right now, we sell out CareFirst Arena and it’s a pretty good vibe, so I think it’s OK even though it’s smaller than other teams—there’s still not enough demand to fill a 20K arena.

1

u/Glittering-Trash-143 1d ago

Hoping Washington does..they have sold out every game at their little place. Not so sure about Atlanta, they can't consistently sell out yet. Dallas is supposed to be moving to a bigger place soon

1

u/randysf50 Valkyries 1d ago

I rarely see a full Mystics home game.