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<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   Related Stories • Loss of Sonics would be a loss for kids 11/14/07 • If Sonics leave Seattle, NBA won't return 11/9/07   CONTACT THE HERALD Report scores and results to 425-339-3470 or 1-866-6-SCORES (Call after 4:30 p.m.) E-mail information including items for Tuesday's Communities Sports Roundup and Thursday's Outdoor Calendar, to sports@heraldnet.com Kevin Brown, Sports Editor kbrown@heraldnet.com   Published: Tuesday, January 8, 2008 Seattle women to buy Storm from Bennett Associated Press SEATTLE -- A group of Seattle women, led by former Deputy Mayor Anne Levinson, is buying the WNBA Seattle Storm from the SuperSonics for $10 million. Two Microsoft Corp. executives and an entrepreneur round out the purchase group named Tuesday. The group, calling itself Force 10 Hoops, has until the end of February to close the sale and would need approval of the WNBA board of governors for the standalone franchise. Levinson, who led the negotiations, said the group was doing it for Storm fans and the community. The others in Force 10 Hoops are Ginny Gilder, who owns an investment business, is president of a family philanthropy and won a silver medal at the L.A. Olympics; Lisa Brummel, senior vice president of human resources at Microsoft and a Yale softball player; and Dawn Trudeau, who heads Microsoft's database division. Seattle SuperSonics owner Clay Bennett has owned both teams since July 2006. Bennett's group has filed with the NBA to relocate the Sonics to Bennett's hometown of Oklahoma City. When Bennett took over ownership, he said he had no intention of splitting the franchises. But last September, he said he might be willing to split the two teams or keep the Storm in Seattle, even if the Sonics were to move. At that time he said the Storm would play the 2008 season in Seattle, but made no commitments beyond that. The Storm would join a handful of WNBA teams that are independently owned, including Chicago, Connecticut, Los Angeles and Washington, among others. The Seattle team has been successful in its eight years in existence, highlighted by its 2004 WNBA title, the first professional sports title in the city since the 1979 SuperSonics won the NBA championship. The team has averaged more than 7,000 fans per game each season and reached the playoffs the last three years. Each of those seasons ended with first-round playoff losses, and in late November, head coach and director of player personnel Anne Donovan abruptly resigned. Seattle has only four players under contract for the 2008 season, including league MVP Lauren Jackson. All-Star Sue Bird is a free agent, but has continually expressed her intention to return to Seattle if the team were to stay.

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