WNBA Finals Game 6 Moved to 12:30 P.M. Slot

The Atlanta Dream will play Game 6 of the WNBA Finals at 12:30 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, October 29. The league moved the start time from an evening slot of 8 p.m. to the afternoon. This change forces fans to watch a championship game during a standard workday.

The Dream will face the Golden State Valkyries at State Farm Arena in Atlanta. The WNBA cited a conflict with an Atlanta Hawks NBA game scheduled for the same venue later that evening. The league said the earlier tipoff was necessary to accommodate the NBA fixture.

The Dream's ownership group published an open letter to fans on Wednesday. They stated that concerns about scheduling conflicts with NBA games were raised two months prior. The owners argued the league did not treat those concerns with sufficient urgency before finalizing the Finals schedule.

The letter questioned the league's planning process. The owners suggested the WNBA may not have expected Atlanta to advance to the championship series. They did not state this as a confirmed fact but listed it as a possible explanation for the scheduling oversight. The group emphasized that the Dream are present in the Finals regardless of prior expectations.

"Whatever the reason, the reality is that we are here," the owners wrote in the letter. They expressed disappointment with the afternoon start while thanking the Hawks and State Farm Arena. The letter noted that the NBA team and the venue adjusted their schedules three times to fit the WNBA Finals.

Public figures weighed in on the midday start. Rapper Flavor Flav proposed that Thursday become a paid holiday for fans. He shared a mock letter asking employers to allow workers to take the day off to watch the game. Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton supported the idea on social media. She wrote, "I endorse this message," in response to Flav's proposal.

The game remains set for 12:30 p.m. ET on Thursday. The Dream and Valkyries will take the court at State Farm Arena. The schedule change has drawn attention from outside the basketball community to the logistics of sharing a major venue with an NBA franchise.