WNBA Finals Game 7 Saturday: $396 Get-In Price Is Highest in League History, TickPick Says

Since Atlanta's 80-69 win in Game 6 on Thursday, Oct. 29, tied the WNBA Finals at 3-3, the focus has moved to Saturday's winner-take-all game in San Francisco. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. ET on Saturday, Oct. 31, at Chase Center.

The market has already responded. According to TickPick, the get-in price is $396 per ticket, which would make Game 7 the most expensive WNBA game ever to attend.

What the Game 7 matchup looks like

Neither franchise has a title. The Dream lost in their three previous Finals trips. The Golden State Valkyries are in their second season and their first Finals, so a first-time champion is guaranteed.

Home court points one way. No WNBA team had a better home record than Golden State this season at 17-5. Atlanta went 15-7 on the road.

The Dream have already beaten the Valkyries in this building, though. They won Game 2 by a 79-65 score behind a 30-point, 16-rebound game from Angel Reese.

The Valkyries also won Games 4 and 5 with defense, 67-62 and 64-55. In Game 6, Atlanta led 46-26 at halftime before Golden State outscored the Dream 43-34 over the second half. The Valkyries shot 31% for the game. Gabby Williams led them with 26 points.

After the loss, Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase said her team did not match Atlanta's intensity. "This is the Finals. The physicality is supposed to be up," she said. "We just did not do that."

Kerr: expect a 'street fight'

Warriors coach Steve Kerr knows how a deciding game can turn. His 2016 Warriors lost the NBA Finals after leading 3-1.

"There's the pressure that comes with the Game 7 itself and it just turns into a street fight. That's what I would expect," Kerr said on KNBR.

The Warriors and Valkyries share an owner in Joe Lacob, who has invested in both franchises.

The scheduling fight lingers

Game 6's 12:30 p.m. ET start drew complaints about fans having to miss work or school. The Dream announced a sellout anyway, and only scattered seats in the upper level were empty.

The Dream's owners, Larry and Robyn Gottesdiener, Suzanne Abair and Renee Montgomery, said in an open letter released Tuesday night, Oct. 27, that they raised conflicts with NBA games at State Farm Arena two months ago, when the league finalized playoff dates. "Our concerns did not receive the attention, nor the urgency that they deserved," the letter said.

The letter said the Game 6 start time was "not what we would have chosen and not what we fought for." The owners thanked the Hawks, who operate the arena, for helping to keep the Finals there.

Officials told WABE the midday tipoff was the best choice given broadcasting and NBA agreements. The Hawks hosted the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday evening.

Southern Utah University sports economist David Berri sees a pattern. "We keep seeing the same pattern over and over again, where the NBA decision-maker decides that a regular season game takes priority over a WNBA finals game," he said.

The WNBA has not publicly answered the letter. CNN said it had asked the league for comment.

The schedule also ran into other conflicts. Game 3 was moved up a day for a concert, and Game 4 tipped off in the early afternoon because of the Hawks' home opener.

Why Atlanta's building mattered

The Dream's regular home, Gateway Center Arena in College Park, holds about 3,500. State Farm Arena seats more than 17,000.

The team plans to return to State Farm Arena permanently in 2027. Atlanta does not control the building. The Hawks operate it, and the Dream franchise is owned separately.

Saturday's game removes the scheduling question, since it will be played in a Golden State-controlled arena in prime time. Neither side has said anything about how the league will handle Finals dates in Atlanta next year, when the Dream's move to State Farm becomes permanent.