Seattle Storm Financial Model
Enterprise/Security Startup Financials (Free Excel Download)
Seattle Storm WNBA franchise is opening its ownership group to outside investors for the first time, raising equity to fund a new training facility and working capital.
professionals from Deloitte
Used by professionals from
About this model
The Seattle Storm example is a professional-sports financing case, not a software startup. The WNBA franchise opened its ownership group to outside investors to fund a new training facility and provide working capital.
Its revenue comes from ticket sales, corporate partnerships, merchandise, and league distributions. Franchise value depends on team performance, market demand, media and sponsorship economics, and the capital required to maintain facilities and operations.
The model forecasts revenue by attendance, ticket yield, sponsorship, merchandise, and league income, then maps player and operating costs, facility capex, working capital, and equity proceeds. Investor returns depend on cash generation and changes in franchise valuation.
A turnkey financial model
Live formulas, no hardcoded values
Outputs are driven by live formulas, so the workbook updates from its assumptions instead of relying on hardcoded results.
All assumptions in one tab
Inputs are clearly marked in the Assumptions tab and separated from calculations, making it clear what to change and what to leave intact.
Statements always balancing
For integrated-statement models, the balance sheet, cash flow, and supporting schedules tie through properly.
Distinct schedules for clarity
Debt, working capital, taxes, and cash flow can get messy quickly. We group calculations in clear schedules, not across disconnected tabs.
No hidden macros or external links
There are no unexplained external workbook links or macros to undermine auditability or portability.
Changes flow through the model
Update a key driver and see the impact carry through the forecast, financing, and return outputs. We never use hardcoded numbers in formulas.
About Seattle Storm
storm.wnba.com
How to build a detailed financial model for Seattle Storm
A complete walkthrough of the business, drivers, and assumptions behind the downloadable Seattle Storm model - distilled from its pitch deck and publicly available information.
Product & value proposition
- The Seattle Storm is a WNBA franchise with 4 championships and 18 playoff appearances in 23 seasons.
- Mission: "Promoting Excellence & Social Change through Teamwork & Partnership."
- Two-part use of proceeds: (1) construction of the Center for Basketball Performance (team's own practice/performance facility), (2) working capital for team operations.
- Strong community/civic identity via programs: Force4Change (social justice), Believe in Women (community recognition), Youth Hoops (youth basketball development).
Market
No explicit TAM/SAM/SOM figures for the WNBA market are stated. The deck instead makes a qualitative and data-supported case for the growth tailwinds in women's sports generally:
- WNBA Finals viewership +63% (2021 vs. 2020).
- Brands investing in women's sports saw massive engagement lifts: Visa +2,700%, Nike +1,100%, Budweiser +1,075% (source: Sports Innovation Lab).
- NWSL Championship viewership +216% since 2019; Women's College Basketball viewership +46% year-over-year.
- Women's sports attendance records broken across multiple leagues (NWSL, NCAA Volleyball, Women's Champions League reaching 91,000+).
- Women comprised 48.8% of Tokyo 2020 Olympic competitors (+10.9% vs. Rio 2016).
No dollar-denominated market size is given for the WNBA or women's sports industry.
Revenue model
Revenue streams implied by the deck but not individually quantified:
- Ticket sales: Named as a primary growth driver (+300% 2014–2022).
- Corporate partnerships / sponsorships: Named as the second primary growth driver (+200% 2014–2022).
- League distributions: Standard for all WNBA franchises; not mentioned explicitly.
- Merchandise / licensing: Not mentioned.
- Facility revenue (post-CBP build): Community 3-on-3 tournaments and events referenced as planned use of the exterior courts.
No pricing, per-game attendance figures, or deal sizes are disclosed.
Traction & metrics
- Ticket sales growth exceeding 300% for the period 2014–2022.
- Corporate partnership revenue increasing by 200% for the period 2014–2022.
- 4 WNBA championships; 18 playoff appearances in 23 seasons.
- Home to 28 Olympians and 2 Olympic coaches.
- Described as "consistently one of the top performing teams in the league in revenue delivery."
No absolute revenue figures, EBITDA, or attendance totals are disclosed.
Competition / moat
- On-court moat: 4 WNBA championships, 18 playoff appearances in 23 seasons - elite franchise record.
- Civic/brand moat: Described as one of the most civically-engaged franchises in sports; strong alignment with progressive values and women's advocacy.
- No competitive analysis vs. other WNBA franchises or alternative sports entertainment is presented.
Team & funding ask / use of funds
- Ownership expansion: "Select group of qualified, passionate investors" - implying accredited/institutional only.
- Use of proceeds (two explicit items):
- Construction of the Center for Basketball Performance (new practice and performance facility).
- Working capital for the team.
- No dollar amount for the raise is disclosed.
- No valuation, ownership percentage offered, or pro forma cap table is shown.
Recommended financial model
- Archetype + why: Sports franchise P&L / ownership return model. This is an established professional sports team raising equity for a capital project (facility) and operations - not a startup. The appropriate model is a sports franchise operating P&L with an equity return / IRR waterfall, not a standard startup 3-statement or SaaS model. Closest analogue: a real-estate/entertainment hybrid where the facility is a capex asset and the team operations are the recurring P&L.
- Forecast horizon & granularity: 10-year model; annual granularity. Seasons align with WNBA calendar (~May–October). Year 1–2 cover facility construction; Year 3+ show post-CBP steady state.
- Key drivers & assumptions:
- Home games per season: ~17 regular-season home games (standard WNBA schedule); may increase if playoff runs assumed.
- Average attendance per game: ~8,000–10,000 (Seattle Climate Pledge Arena capacity ~17,100; WNBA average ~7,000–9,000); assume 85% of recent capacity given growth trend.
- Average ticket price (ATP): ~$40–$60; should be modeled as an assumption toggle.
- Ticket revenue growth rate: >300% over 2014–2022 (8-year period) implies ~19% CAGR; forward assumption 8–12% pa as a more conservative base.
- Corporate partnership revenue growth: +200% over 2014–2022 (~15% CAGR); forward 7–10% pa base.
- Corporate partnership revenue as % of total revenue: 25–35% (typical WNBA range).
- League distributions / revenue sharing: included as a fixed + variable line; dollar amount not in deck.
- Merchandise / other revenue: 5–10% of total.
- Player salaries & team operations (COGS): ~50–60% of revenue; WNBA has a salary cap.
- Arena/facility costs: rent at Climate Pledge Arena until CBP opens; post-CBP, shift to depreciation + maintenance on owned facility.
- CBP capex: construction cost unknown; model as a placeholder (e.g., $20M–$40M) pending disclosure; depreciate over 30–40 years.
- SG&A / front-office costs: ~15–20% of revenue.
- EBITDA margin target: 10–20% at maturity (typical WNBA/minor professional sports range).
- Terminal value / exit: sports franchise valuation is typically a multiple of revenue or comparable transaction; 5–8x revenue exit in Year 10 for IRR calc.
- Equity raise size: placeholder; not in deck - must be provided by client.
- Ownership % offered to new investors: placeholder; not in deck.
- Scenarios (Base / Bull / Bear - which variables flex):
- Bull: Ticket sales growth 15% pa, corporate partnerships 12% pa, CBP opens on schedule, franchise valuation expands with WNBA media deal tailwinds.
- Base: Ticket sales growth 8% pa, corporate partnerships 7% pa, CBP opens with 6-month delay.
- Bear: Growth normalises to 4–5% pa, CBP cost overruns, attendance plateaus.
- Required sheets / outputs:
- Assumptions - all growth rates, ticket pricing, attendance, capex inputs, raise size, ownership %
- P&L - revenue by stream (tickets, sponsorship, distributions, merch), player/staff costs, facility costs, EBITDA
- Capital project - CBP construction timeline, capex, depreciation schedule
- Cash flow - operating CF, CBP capex, equity proceeds, ending cash/runway
- Returns / waterfall - equity invested, distributions, exit proceeds, LP IRR and MOIC
- Dashboard - KPI cards (attendance, ATP, revenue by stream, EBITDA margin, IRR)
Frequently asked
Is the Seattle Storm financial model free?+
Yes. The Seattle Storm model is a free Excel (.xlsx) download with live formulas. Sign up with your email and the workbook is yours to keep, review, and edit.
What's included in the model?+
A 5-year monthly forecast with P&L, cash flow and runway, valuation (exit multiple plus a DCF cross-check), MOIC/IRR returns, and unit economics, with live formulas throughout.
How was this model built?+
It was built from Seattle Storm's pitch deck and publicly available information, then structured to investment-banking standards as a fully editable Excel model.
Can I change the assumptions?+
Yes. You can change assumptions and the live formulas will recalculate in the downloadable Excel model.
Have more financial modelling questions? Contact us
Created by ex-finance professionals
Hey, I’m Alex and I created Finamodel.
Over my years in the finance industry I kept building the same models over and over again. Same structure, same assumptions, different logo. So I started building frameworks to turn them into clean, reusable templates.
Every model here is one I’d actually use for a client, and I personally vet each one before it goes up.
I’m not an expert in every industry, but I’ve built enough models to know what belongs in one. And when something is completely foreign to me, I reach out to my network for experts to work on our models with us.
Having a template library on hand cuts a first build from hours to minutes.
Need help finding your model? You’ll find me in the Finamodel app!
Other Enterprise/Security Startup Financial Models
Browse another startup in the same category.
AgBiome
AgBiome is a microbial-platform agtech company that discovers, develops, and commercialises biological crop protection products (and licences the platform across adjacent markets).
Alation
Enterprise data intelligence platform - data catalog, governance, and metadata management for large organisations.
Archer SPAC
Archera
Cloud resource automation platform that continuously optimizes AWS commitment purchases, de-risks overcommitment, and automates FinOps workflows.
Ardoq
Cloud-native Enterprise Architecture (EA) SaaS platform that helps large enterprises navigate digital transformation through automated data collection, graph-based architecture modelling, and change impact analysis.
Ascend
Ascend.io is an enterprise big data automation platform ("Enterprise Intelligence Platform") that abstracts away the complexity of big data engineering so non-experts can build and run data pipelines.
Athennian
Cloud-based legal entity management system (EMS) uniting entity data with workflow and document automation.
Auditboard
Cloud-based integrated risk management platform connecting audit, risk, compliance, and ESG teams across the enterprise.
