The Storm announced this morning a partnership with KING 5 to broadcast Storm Basketball during 2010. Six games will air on KONG TV and Universal Sports, beginning with Sunday’s season opener vs. Los Angeles. Storm CEO Karen Bryant took some time to chat about what the deal means to the Storm organization.

What’s your reaction to announcing this new television deal with KING 5?
We are really excited about our new television deal. We have spent the last seven or eight months having conversations with various carriers in the marketplace and are thrilled that we’ve landed at the Belo family. At least six of our games will be aired on KONG and Universal Sports. We’re still working on the details for the away schedule, but are really excited about landing with a family of stations that reaches the Northwest in an unprecedented way and, equally importantly, excited about partnering with an organization that is going to help us promote Storm Basketball in a much broader and deeper way than we’ve been able to.

How important was expanding the Storm’s television presence?
We’ve talked a lot the last couple of years with our ownership group and the staff here about the importance of just continuing to build exposure for Storm Basketball, operating on the notion that we think there are a lot of future Storm fans – die-hard Storm fans – who have yet to really appreciate the quality of the game and the quality of the atmosphere at KeyArena for Storm Basketball. There is no greater medium to really illustrate both of those points than television. As we looked at what our audience development strategy was over the next few years, our ability to televise locally our marquee games for the regular season was an important priority for us.

What role did fans’ desire to see more games on television play?
Feedback from our fans, particularly our Season Ticket Holders, is always really important. We take great pride in not only being accessible but also making sure we are responsive to our fans. We can’t always give them everything they want, but we definitely strive to and try to make sure that line of communication is open. We’d heard a lot over the years about fans wanting us to televise more games, and I know our Season Ticket Holders particularly would love to see us televise more away games so they can watch the Storm when they’re on the road. At this point, we’re only announcing our home schedule, but in the coming weeks as we work through some details with some of the other markets, we’ll announce the full schedule. But the great news is last year we launched LiveAccess, so fans are able to watch games through that medium as well.

What else makes this television deal different than the Storm’s past ones?
In addition to announcing our new partnership with Belo, we’re also announcing that for the first time in franchise history, the Storm is actually managing and controlling the production and content of the game. We’ve hired Bill Kaczaraba and First Team Media. Bill was the former vice president of content for Fox Sports Northwest, so I’m very familiar with Bill personally and he’s also very familiar with Storm Basketball at KeyArena. We’ve hired somebody in the market who has deep knowledge, a really impressive resume, and is truly an expert in what he does. We’ve gone out and hired the best, and we think Storm games are going to be among the best in the WNBA, for sure.

Leonard

“Karen Bryant is a huge inspiration to me and would be a great leader to follow with all the things she has accomplished.”

Kent, Wash., 8th-grader Breanna Leonard wrote those words about Bryant, the Storm’s CEO, for Macy’s Follow A Leader essay contest. The 15-year-old mentoring program matches youth with Pacific Northwest leaders who have careers in arts, science, medicine, sports, education, law, business, industry, technology and government.

Breanna, who attends Cedar Heights Middle School in Kent, met Bryant for the first time in November during a luncheon honoring students selected for the Follow A Leader program. In early 2009, Breanna will spend a day “on the job” with Bryant, and will also return to attend a Storm game during the upcoming season.

Macy’s Follow A Leader mentor program, co-sponsored by the Seattle Times and KING 5 Television, is designed to encourage children to develop their writing and communication skills, and to think and learn about various career options. Breanna was one of 20 student honorees selected from over 600 entrants in grades 4-12, after submitting an essay explaining why they would like to meet and spend a day with one of 20 local community leaders and how education can help them achieve their dreams. All winners also receive a $1,000 U.S. Savings Bond.

BREANNA’S ESSAY

From reading about Karen Bryant, I learned that she’s the leader I would want to follow for a day because she’s a role model to me. I have loved basketball for as long as I can remember and have played ever since 4th grade. I remember watching basketball when I was a little kid and always asking who was winning and what team had which color jersey.

Karen Bryant was an amazing athlete and could’ve played professionally if she wanted to, but instead became the CEO for the Seattle Storm. Now she can still enjoy basketball and is responsible for finances, marketing, and community relations for the team, which is something I’m interested in. Karen Bryant helped women’s sports begin and that is why she’s the leader I would want to follow. She shows us that if you work hard and stay committed you can have your dreams come true. Karen Bryant is a huge inspiration to me and would be a great leader to follow with all the things she has accomplished.

If I could spend the day with Karen Bryant, that would be absolutely wonderful. I would ask her what she does as the CEO of the Storm, to see exactly what she does and if I would want to go into that profession. Also, she seems like she has fun at her job and I would want to know how she really feels and if at times it gets stressful.

Education can help me achieve my dreams just like it did for Karen Bryant. Karen Bryant was a former basketball player in High School and College. She then went into project management instead of playing professional basketball. She’s now the CEO of the Seattle Storm which involves basketball and management. Here is what Karen Bryant says about her job, “… it’s exciting, and there’s never a day that I don’t smile and treasure the privilege that I have to work for the Storm.” Karen Bryant’s dreams came true and so can mine with education. Now you know why I would want to follow the leader, Karen Bryant.