Seattle, WA
Seattle Storm becomes the most valuable team in the WNBA

It was a blockbuster year for the WNBA, with Caitlin Clark joining the league. It was an even bigger year for the Seattle Storm as the team became the most valuable franchise in the league.
Purchased for $10 million from the Clay Bennett group that moved the Sonics to Oklahoma City, the team now tops the association with an estimated value of $151 million despite being in a smaller market.
“We are in the middle of a sea change,” Seattle Storm co-owner Ginny Gilder told the Puget Sound Business Journal. “We got a valuation that really has started to change the landscape of valuations for women’s sports.”
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Gilder said that when she, Lisa Brummel and Dawn Trudeau bought the team, they knew they would make money. The team is now valued at 15 times what they paid for it.
There’s no doubt that the league benefits from the Catlin Clark halo effect, but the Storm saw a significant revenue boost before that even happened. In 2022, there was a significant uptick in ticket sales following the team’s move from Everett to the larger Climate Pledge Arena. There was a 94% revenue increase from 2021 to 2023.
In July, the WNBA entered an 11-year media rights deal with Disney, Amazon Prime and NBC, which was reportedly worth $200 million. It is expected to boost player salaries and revenues.
Storm legend Sue Bird, a four-time WNBA champion and five-time Olympic gold medalist, joined the team’s ownership group, Force 10 Hoops, on April 24.
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Force 10 opened the team’s $64 million training facility and headquarters in Interbay in April, just before the 2024 season began. The Storm is one of only two WNBA teams with its own practice facility.
Starbucks and Providence Swedish are founding partners of the facility.
“These partnerships are comprehensive,” President and CEO Alicia Valavanis told the Business Journal.
The contract amounts for each are generally in “the mid-six to low-seven figures,” she said.
Bill Kaczaraba is a content editor at MyNorthwest. You can read his stories here. Follow Bill on X, formerly known as Twitter, here and email him here.

Seattle, WA
FBI and SPD search for serial bank robber in Seattle
Seattle police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are searching for a woman believed to have robbed at least seven banks since June 2024.
On Monday, detectives say she targeted the U.S. Bank on McGraw Street in Magnolia just before noon. They say she gave the teller a note, flashed a gun from her purse, and ran away with the money.
“This is so quiet and you don’t expect to do it here, like that, at day time,” said Maggie Irizarry, a Magnolia resident.
Police describe her as an Asian woman, about 5’3, in her early 20s and usually wearing a face mask and hat.
KIRO 7 obtained video from a robbery at a Homestreet Bank in Madison Park on March 18 which shows the suspect wearing sunglasses and a beanie.
Before that, police say she robbed banks in January 2025, November 2024, October 2024, September 2024, and June 2024 throughout the city.
“She keeps changing things. Yeah, maybe they’ll catch her. They need to set up some sort of sting operation at banks or something though,” said Renee Knopp, a Magnolia resident.
Each time she’s got a different look, but people we spoke with think those disguises won’t last long.
“She will get caught, sooner or later she will get caught, it’s just a matter of time,” said Maggie Irizarry.
The FBI says the suspect has stolen about $7,500 so far.
Courtesy: FBI Seattle
Seattle, WA
NFL offseason grades: Seattle Seahawks earn ‘B’ from Pro Football Focus

The Seattle Seahawks have been among the most active teams throughout the 2025 NFL offseason, but there’s no guarantee that any of their moves will pan out. If anything, those around the league aren’t sure what to make of the new-look Seahawks.
While the defense should be better this season, their offense is a total mystery due to the many new faces. The team added three new quarterbacks, totally revamped its wide receiver room and selected an offensive lineman in the first round of the draft.
Is quarterback Sam Darnold an upgrade over Geno Smith? Will Cooper Kupp make up for the loss of DK Metcalf at wide receiver? Did Seattle do enough to fix its offensive line?
Obviously, no one can answer these questions until the season kicks off, but Pro Football Focus handed out offseason grades to all 32 teams. The Seahawks earned a “B” grade for their 2025 offseason haul.
“Hiring Klint Kubiak as offensive coordinator was a good move, as his work in New Orleans under unideal circumstances was encouraging,” wrote PFF’s Trevor Sikkema. “He fits right into a lot of the strengths of Seattle’s roster, especially with deploying a zone rushing attack.
PFF considered the switch from Smith to Darnold, another former NFL journeyman, to be a “net negative,” but praised the team’s changes at wide receiver.
“The Seahawks subbed in Sam Darnold for Geno Smith, which appears to be a net negative,” Sikkema continued. “They did well to swap their offensive weapons, switching D.K. Metcalf and Tyler Lockett for Cooper Kupp and Marquez Valdes-Scantling. I also like their defensive additions of DeMarcus Lawrence and Nick Emmanwori.”
The quarterback decision will ultimately determine whether the offseason was a success for Seattle. The Seahawks will have to prove that giving up Smith for a late-Day 2 pick and replacing him with Darnold following one productive season in Minnesota was the right move.
In a way, the team hedged its bet on Darnold by drafting Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe in the third round. If Darnold starts seeing ghosts in the pocket, Milroe gives Seattle a more mobile option for this season and beyond.
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Seattle, WA
Daniel Jeremiah dispels 1 Seattle Seahawks draft criticism

The Seattle Seahawks have received widespread praise for their 2025 draft class.
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With their first-round pick, they addressed their most glaring need by drafting offensive lineman Grey Zabel. Over the next two rounds, they added a trio of intriguing players with rare athletic traits: versatile safety Nick Emmanwori, field-stretching tight end Elijah Arroyo and dual-threat quarterback Jalen Milroe.
And in the later rounds, they grabbed several potential value picks in defensive lineman Rylie Mills, wide receiver Tory Horton, running back Damien Martinez and wideout Ricky White III.
The high marks for Seattle’s draft class were further reflected in a recent article by The Athletic’s Mike Sando, who spoke to NFL team executives to gain their perspectives on opposing teams’ drafts.
“The top of the draft was really good for them,” one executive said, according to Sando. “They got three of the better players in the whole draft.”
But despite that, there was one criticism.
“The catch: Seattle targeted non-premium positions with its first three picks,” Sando wrote.
As Sando mentioned, the Seahawks’ first three picks were a guard, a safety and a tight end. And in terms of salaries, those three positions are typically on the lower half of the spectrum in terms of salaries.
That prompted Seattle Sports’ Mike Salk to ask NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah whether he thinks it’s an issue that the Seahawks spent their first three picks on non-premium positions.
“I don’t think so, because I don’t think they forced it,” said Jeremiah, a former NFL scout, to Brock and Salk. “… You can go in there with a plan in place (to) address the premium positions. But if it falls a certain way, you get in trouble when you’re trying to just force it and jam it in there.
“At the end of the day, the goal is to have blue (chip) players. You want to have elite players scattered across your roster. And depending on who you talk to, they’ll tell you, we need to have eight to 12 blue-caliber players – guys that could be considered in the top 10 of their position in the NFL.
“So if you can get one of those elite players at one of those non-premium positions – (especially) in a draft like the one we just had (with limited blue-chip prospects) – that’s just doing it smart, in my opinion.”
Listen to the full conversation with NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah at this link or in the audio player at the bottom of this story. Tune in to Brock and Salk weekdays from 6 to 10 a.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.
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