Atlanta Dream majority owner Larry Gottesdiener has been branded a 'liar' after claiming next month's venue change for the WNBA clash with the Indiana Fever is because of a "scheduling conflict".
The Dream are due to host the Fever on Thursday, May 22 in what will be their first home game of the 2025 season but it will no longer be taking place at the Gateway Center Arena at College Park, Georgia, which has a capacity of 3,500 for basketball games. Instead, the tie will be taking place at State Farm Arena — the home of the Atlanta Hawks of the NBA.
Located approximately 11 miles north of the Gateway Center Arena, State Farm Arena has a stadium capacity of 16,888 - making it almost five times as big as the Dream's usual home venue. With WNBA superstar Caitlin Clark coming to town, it's been widely assumed that the move has been made in order to generate more ticket revenue.
Last season, several WNBA teams moved games against the Fever to larger venues in order to capitalize on ticket revenue driven by Clark, with fans across the country desperate to get a glimpse of the 23-year-old in the flesh during her stellar rookie season.
As a result, a number of attendance and TV viewership records throughout her debut campaign were broken, providing many teams with much-needed extra income, yet Dream majority owner Gottesdiener has insisted that a "scheduling conflict" is the reason behind the move.
“We have invested significant resources and energy into making Gateway Center Arena the most unique home-court experience in the WNBA,” he said in a press release Wednesday. “However, due to a scheduling conflict at Gateway, we saw an opportunity to bring this exciting early-season matchup to State Farm Arena, allowing even more fans to experience it. We appreciate the hospitality.”
A number of fans, however, are failing to let Gottesdiener pull the wool over their eyes. Taking to X (formerly Twitter), they were keen to voice their true opinions on the matter, with some even calling the majority owner out for his 'lies'.
"It's called The Caitlin Clark Effect," one wrote in response to a post confirming the news. "Never trust someone who lies for no reason," said another, while a third person added: "It's was about making MORE MONEY... who yall trying to fool."
A fourth person then said: "The most convenient 'scheduling conflict' ever and it happens to be on a Caitlin Clark game. okaayy Larry." Sports broadcaster Robin Lundberg also chimed in with: "Very inconvenient for the Dream to have to sell 15,000 more tickets due to a scheduling conflict just as Caitlin Clark and the Fever come to town."
Last season, the Dream had an average attendance of 3,315 from 18 games played at the Gateway Center Arena. Ironically, both of their regular season home games against the Fever on June 21 and August 26 were also moved to the State Farm Arena, generating attendances of 17,575 and 17,608, respectively.
