Caitlin Clark’s rookie season lifted women’s basketball to new heights. The demand to see the Fever star was so great that many teams upgraded their venues to accommodate more fans. The trend is continuing ahead of the 2025 WNBA season with recent news of the Dream relocating their game. However, fans aren’t buying the team’s reasoning for the shift.
Advertisement
Moving games against the Fever to bigger arenas isn’t something new. The Aces and Mystics were the first teams to do it when Clark came to town. The Dream joined them last season, moving their matchup to State Farm Arena. They are repeating their actions but allegedly for a different reason.
Dream majority owner Larry Gottesdiener announced that the May 22 game against the Fever won’t take place at the usual Gateway Center, attributing the move to a “scheduling conflict.”
INBOX: The Dream have moved their season opener against Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever to State Farm Arena.
Dream majority owner Larry Gottesdiener quoted in the release saying a “scheduling conflict” at Gateway Center Arena was the cause for the move.
— Madeline Kenney (@madkenney) March 12, 2025
Fans are already poking holes in the statement. As of now, there are no scheduled events for May 22 at Gateway Center. Many speculate that money is the main motivator for the decision.
Gateway Center holds a small capacity of 3,500, while State Farm Arena’s capacity is 16,888. In their matchup last season in Atlanta, the Dream hosted a record 17,575 fans. Following the news of the location shift, fans believe Gottesdiener has an ulterior motive.
One user believes they can see through the majority owner’s lie, stating money as the main incentive. They posted on X saying, “The ‘conflict’ was he wanted to make more money so he scheduled it in a bigger arena.”
Another sarcastically referenced last year’s matchup against the Fever: “Interestingly enough they must of had scheduling conflicts for their games against the Fever last season also.”
As the season approaches, it won’t be surprising to see more teams announce similar venue changes when the Fever comes to town. It’ll be interesting to see if other teams take the same approach as the Dream or are more transparent.
