Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images Drew Lerner Mon, October 26, 2026 at 9:00 PM UTC · 4 min read About Our Ads Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There are already plenty of fair criticisms of the WNBA's frequently inept operation, so it didn't need to throw another log on that fire. But somehow, the league found a way to do exactly that on Monday.
After the Golden State Valkyries beat the Atlanta Dream in Game 4 of the WNBA Finals on Saturday, tying the series 2-2, discussions quickly began about where Game 6 would be played. Like Games 3 and 4, Game 6 is scheduled to be hosted in Atlanta, but the scheduled day and time conflict with an Atlanta Hawks home game at State Farm Arena.
The original schedule for Games 3 and 4 already needed to change to accommodate events previously scheduled for State Farm Arena, so the Dream wouldn't play a Finals game in a much smaller arena or far outside the city center. Game 3 was moved up one day to avoid a concert, and Game 4 was moved up from 3:30 p.m. ET to 1 p.m. ET on Saturday so the Hawks could play their game on Saturday night.
Game 6, initially scheduled for Thursday evening, ran into the same conflict as Game 4; the Hawks are scheduled to play that night. And according to ESPN reporter Ramona Shelburne, that left the WNBA with two options "under strong consideration."
Option one was to move Game 6 out of primetime and into the 12:30 p.m. ET window on Thursday, allowing both the Dream and the Hawks to play at State Farm Arena. Option two was to move Game 6 to an open date at State Farm Arena on Friday, then shift a potential Game 7 back three days to Nov. 3, when the Valkyries' home arena, Chase Center, is available.
The WNBA chose option one, and now a champion could be crowned while most Americans are at work.
At a time when the WNBA has its strongest momentum in history (at least since the league's launch), it's decided to schedule the first-ever Game 6 in WNBA Finals history for a time when very few will be able to watch on television. For a league that wants to be seen as on par with the other major professional sports leagues in the U.S., it's hard to imagine the NBA, NFL, NHL, or MLB would've made the same call under similar circumstances.
In fact, all of those leagues would've likely chosen the outcome that would've allowed the most fans to watch the game on television. After all, the WNBA is a television product first and foremost. By playing Game 6 at 12:30 p.m. ET on a Thursday, they've cast aside the millions of fans watching on television in favor of the 15,000 additional people who can attend at State Farm Arena.
Option two, playing Game 6 on Friday and a possible Game 7 on Nov. 3, would've allowed the league to maximize its television audience. Heck, the WNBA should've kept the original Finals schedule and played Game 6 in the Dream's 3,500-person arena, rather than sacrificing untold numbers of television viewers to avoid the possibility that a champion could've been crowned in the smaller stadium.
What's worse? Crowning a champion in a smaller-than-ideal arena, or sacrificing hundreds of thousands of viewers to play in a bigger arena at a worse time? I can say with certainty what the WNBA's television partners, corporate sponsors, and business executives would prefer: the option that guarantees more television viewership.
Monday's decision may go down as the final terrible call of WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert 's much-maligned tenure. The league can only hope she'll be replaced with someone who recognizes the WNBA is in the television business.
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Source: Sports
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