It looks as if the completion for the new venue to be built at Seattle Center has hit a bit of a snag.
Initially, the new arena, which will replace the incumbent KeyArena, was expected to be finished by spring of 2021 – in plenty of time for the Seattle Storm’s season. It recently was confirmed by NHL Seattle president Tod Leiweke that the schedule now sees the arena being complete by the summer of that year.
The Seattle Times reported that Storm president and CEO Alisha Valavanis has been “in close contact and communication” with Leiweke on the new finishing date of June 1, 2021. This is, theoretically, a few days after the start of a 2021 WNBA season.
That same report mentioned Valavanis already being told by the WNBA that its season in 2021 would begin before June 1.
With construction already underway at KeyArena, the Storm will split its home schedule between Alaska Airlines Arena at the University of Washington and Angel of the Winds Arena in Everett.
The Storm signed an agreement with the City of Seattle where its lease on the building extended through 2028. The city agreed to pay Force 10 Hoops, the entity that owns the Storm, $100,000 for every season the team is displaced from the Seattle Center venue.
