When the Seattle Storm first changed hands in 2008, the franchise was priced at a modest $10 million. Today, that same team is valued at roughly $425 million, positioning it among the most valuable properties in the Women’s National Basketball Association.
Championships that Cemented a Legacy
Central to that ascent has been the tenure of 13-time All-Star Sue Bird, whose leadership helped the Storm capture four WNBA titles, each one etching the club deeper into Seattle’s sports narrative.
Behind the scenes, a coalition of visionary investors — including Ginny Gilder, Lisa Brummel, Dawn Trudeau and Anne Levinson — formed Force 10 Hoops to acquire the club. Their strategy blends business rigor with a commitment to growing women’s athletics, a stance that has resonated with the city’s fan base.
The group’s ambitions extend beyond the hardwood. With the NBA’s push to resurrect the SuperSonics in Seattle, the Storm’s ownership sees a unique opportunity to weave the women’s franchise into a broader basketball renaissance for the region.
That vision aligns with a league-wide surge: the WNBA is set to expand into Toronto, Portland, Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia, signaling growing appetite for women’s professional basketball.
Fans, meanwhile, often cite the Storm’s less corporate, community-driven atmosphere as a refreshing contrast to the league’s more commercialized counterparts, a factor the owners intend to preserve as the sport scales.
A New Era for Seattle Basketball
Whether the return of the Sonics will amplify the Storm’s impact remains to be seen, but the groundwork laid by Gilder and her partners suggests that Seattle could become a model for how women’s sports and major-market NBA aspirations can coexist and thrive.