Seattle Storm CEO and Team President earns honor at 87^th Seattle Sports Star of the Year Awards

SEATTLE — Seattle Storm President and CEO Alisha Valavanis has been named the Seattle Sports Leader of the Year at the 87th Seattle Sports Star of the Year awards show Thursday night at the Westin Seattle.

The award, which was handed out this year for the first time since 2012, recognizes a leader whose efforts have demonstrated significant and positive impact within a sports organization or the Washington sports community.

Valavanis has guided the Seattle Storm through a monumental year as the team returns to the Seattle Center and the newly renovated Climate Pledge Arena. Valavanis has been instrumental in the Storm’s recently-announced training facility, which—when completed in 2024—will be the only practice facility dedicated for the exclusive use of a WNBA team. She has also overseen the growth of the Storm’s Force4Change program, the franchise’s comprehensive social justice platform which allows the Storm to be a force to effect meaningful change in Seattle.

Valavanis has also overseen record growth in the Storm’s season ticket holder and corporate partnership numbers in 2022. That includes new partnerships with local companies like PacSci, Amazon, and Angel of the Winds Casino, alongside a unique partnership with Coinbase, making the Storm the first WNBA franchise to have a crypto platform deal. To promote the team’s return to Uptown Seattle, Valavanis and the Storm partnered with the ad agency Wunderman Thompson on an ad campaign created by an all-female team from the Seattle chapter of the award-winning agency and shot and directed by the world-renowned fashion photographer Jill Greenberg.

Last year, Valavanis joined the ownership group of Force 10 Sports Management and guided the expansion of the organization’s Force 10 3×3 basketball, adding three additional professional teams to the operation in 2021. Force 10 3×3 now oversees four teams on the Red Bull 3×3 tour.

Created in 1936 by legendary sports editor, Royal Brougham, and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Sports Star of the Year is one of the longest-running sports awards in the country. With such a rich history, it’s no wonder the event has hosted the most iconic sports figures and is beloved by those in the industry. Candidates for consideration are solicited through the Sports Star Nominating Committee, composed of local media, sports historians and other members of the sports industry.

—— StormBasketball.com ——