The Atlanta Dream traded for Angel Reese in the offseason with confidence that she would be the missing piece to a championship run. After two losing seasons in Chicago, Reese brought her steadily improving game to the Peach State, and she’s been everything the organization has needed.
Since Angel Reese Arrived 91% Ticket Demand Increase For Atlanta Dream
Reese has been a difference maker for Atlanta on the floor and also at the ticket office. According to @StubHub on X, “Atlanta Dream ticket demand has risen 91% in Angel Reese’s first season with the team, the largest jump in the WNBA from last season, and they’ve also drawn 48% more fans from outside of Georgia. “
Also it has been reported that the Atlanta Dream will move all of their home games next season from the 3,500-seat Gateway Center to 17,000-seat State Farm Arena to feed the demand.
Keep in mind that StubHub tracks secondary-market ticket demand, not turnstile attendance. Dream average home attendance rose from 4,480 in 2025 to 6,928 in 2026 (+2,448 per game, ~55% increase). Over 22 regular-season games they gained 54,000 total fans, driven largely by moving six games — versus one the previous year — to the larger State Farm Arena.
Her staple is the defensive end. She brought high energy and made huge plays on that end all night in Game 2 of the WNBA Eastern Conference semifinals on Oct. 7, leading Atlanta to a 101-98 overtime victory over the New York Liberty.
Angel Reese Is One Game Away From First WNBA Finals
In the absence of All-Star and second-leading scorer Allisha Gray, who suffered a left hand and finger injury in Game 1, Reese stepped up by elevating her highly-criticized offensive game to lead the team in scoring along with guard Jordin Canada with 23 points. She was also perfect 6-for-6 from the charity stripe in Atlanta’s State Farm Arena on Wednesday night.
The Dream only shot 40 Percent from the field to the Liberty’s 55 percent as a team and lost the overall battle on the boards, But on the offensive end is where Atlanta doubled the Liberty up (11-5) and eventually won the game.
Despite a Hall of Fame effort from legend Breanna Stewart, who became the first player in WNBA history to post a stat line of 35 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in a WNBA playoff game, the overtime loss now sent them home to New York for Game 3 facing elimination.
Holly Rowe spoke to the Defensive Player of the Year after the game and asked her about draining the two biggest free throws of her career in overtime to seal the Game 2 win.
“First my work,” Reese boasted. “I shoot free throws after every single practice. … I trust my work.”
“You got to do it for your sister, the person next to you. We knew somebody would have to step up, and our bench stepped up,” said Reese, who had almost half her team’s offensive rebounds. “It’s rough playing against [players that are] 6’-7”, 6’-5”, 6’-4,” you just have to be fearless and play relentless.”
Fans React To ‘Angel Reese Effect’
As one of the most polarizing players in WNBA history, Reese’s success and failure is always a talking point, especially for her haters. Many jumped into the comments under the StubHub tweet to challenge the stats.
“Stub Hub now getting paid to spread propaganda,” one fan commented, suggesting the numbers are not real.
“48% increase when they play the fever only probably,” another fan tweeted.
“Wow, that’s impressive. Show us the numbers,” one netizen quipped.
When Reese does well it seems to anger fans who refuse to acknowledge her accomplishments.
“No one takes you losers seriously… and there isn’t a single serious basketball fan on the planet that thinks Angel Reese is remotely decent,” one detractor expressed in the comments.
Basking in the glory of another Reese gem, her fans ignored blowhard critics and celebrated the former LSU star’s biggest WNBA win to date.
“I guess we’re supposed to thank CC for this too?” one Reese fan remarked.
“Impact Barbie pushing the Dream back to where they belong,” a Dream fan proudly stated.
Another Reese supporter scolded uninformed basketball fans for buying into narratives about Reese that she is obliterating during this championship run, saying:
“These casuals genuinely thought no one cared about Angel or that people hadn’t been following her since college. They thought she didn’t have any fans. So what I love about these statistics and metrics with ATL is it’s undeniable that this is all Angel – all her impact. It can’t be interpreted any other way or misconstrued.”
This is nothing new for Reese, who has considerably quieted all of the WNBA fans who refuse to acknowledge her as one of the league’ s best.
“This can’t be real? I thought only Cunningham and Clark mattered in the WNBA,” another Reese fan sarcastically commented on X.
She doesn’t have 5 million followers on social media for nothing, and the numbers show that she’s a gate attraction online and on the court.
Game 3 is on Friday back at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
