Seattle Storm Signs Naming Rights Deal With BECU For New Performance Center
After over a decade of partnership, the Seattle Storm and BECU are expanding their work together to make BECU – Washington's largest credit union – the title partner of the Storm's new training facility and performance center. The newly named 'BECU Storm Center for Basketball Performance' is a first in women's sports, marking the first time an independently owned WNBA team has secured a naming rights partner for a dedicated performance center.
'We have two brands deeply rooted in the Pacific Northwest; two hometown teams that have decided to do something special together. To me, that is very exciting,' said Seattle Storm President and CEO Alisha Valavanis. 'This partnership is centered around what we can do in the community.'
Opened in April of 2024, the Seattle Storm's training facility established a new standard in sports when it comes to providing best-in-class resources for women athletes. The BECU Storm Center for Basketball Performance is a $64 million, 50,000-square-foot facility that is home to two indoor professional basketball courts, two outdoor 3x3 courts, a locker room, a nutrition center, a player lounge, strength and conditioning equipment, an aquatics center, and offices to accomodate the Storm's business operations. With an assist from BECU providing the financing to bring the facility to life, the Storm made history by creating the WNBA's first dedicated performance center that was designed and built from the ground up.
The team's expanded partnership with BECU builds on the values both organizations have long shared and the work they have long done together over the last decade that has focused on equity, youth, and community development.
'It was the idea of women's sports that got BECU really interested, but even more importantly, it was this very clear, values driven organization that was so reflective of our own values,' said BECU President and CEO Beverly Anderson. 'As we watch the Seattle Storm continue to just rise and do incredible work in the communities, we knew that we wanted to do more.'
As part of the expanded agreement, BECU is now the presenting partner of the Storm's Jr. Storm Community Hoops series – Together We Rise – which is a program that provides free basketball clinics and financial education resources for up to 600 local kids annually. The clinics will also include financial education resources for kids and families that will be delivered through the lens of basketball. The credit union will also donate $25,000 to the Storm's Kicks for Equality annual auction benefiting non-profits that align with the franchise's charitable arm, Force4Change.
'Honestly, the best part of this is all of the community development that we can do together,' said Anderson. 'Together, we will both be stronger and together, we will both serve this community in incredible and fundamentally new and different ways that are going to help not only both of our brands, but it's going to help all of the community and all the members we serve.'
This expanded partnership – and notably the naming rights deal between the Storm and BECU – establishes a new benchmark for infrastructure investment in women's professional sports and underscores the growing commercial momentum behind the WNBA. For the Seattle Storm and BECU, it's about more than a commercial opportunity though; it's also about long-term impact for kids and communities in Seattle.
'We talk about the return on investment, we talk about the business case, but this is also a return on mission. This is a return on values. This is a return on the future we want to see,' said Valavanis.
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