Photo: CAEAN COUTO
Local ties have become even stronger for the core of the Seattle Kraken.
Recording artist Macklemore and 12-year National Football League running back Marshawn Lynch, who won a Super Bowl title in 2014, have joined the minority investor group of the Seattle Kraken, the team announced on Monday morning ahead of a 7pm PT matchup with the Ottawa Senators at Climate Pledge Arena.
The duo, with extremely strong sports and entertainment connection to Seattle, are expected to participate in team outreach and entertainment plans, and will join the investor group led by founder and majority owner, David Bonderman.
“We are fortunate to have an incredibly strong investor group which has guided the franchise over the last four years,” said Kraken executive committee chairperson Samantha Holloway, in a team statement. “We are now adding two hometown heroes who share our values and desires to give back to this great city and continue to make hockey a sport for everyone.”
With both appearing in a team-released video along with Kraken jerseys bearing “Owner” on the back and 22 for Macklemore and 24 for Lynch, who wore the identical number when he helped guide the Seahawks to their first Super Bowl title eight years ago, the duo adds significant celebrity weight making an impact in the sports and entertainment sectors over the last decade.
Macklemore, a native of Seattle who adds the Kraken to his sports portfolio after joining the Seattle Sounders FC ownership group in 2019, racked up four Grammy Awards as a duo with Ryan Lewis in 2014 including Best Rap Album, “The Heist,” and Best Rap Performance, “Thrift Shop.”
He will work with the Kraken and Climate Pledge Arena to produce music events supporting civic and fan engagement, along with partnership in a planned Seattle Kraken golf tournament with his local clothing brand, Bogey Boys.
"I have so much love for our city. The Seattle teams that we root for bring our community together and unify the people. In many ways, our franchises defined my childhood to the present. We rep our teams like no other city,” said Macklemore in a team statement.
Lynch, who served a contributing role in nationally televised NHL expansion draft coverage last July at Seattle’s Gas Works Park and has been seen frequently on Kraken in-game entertainment visuals, helped guide the Seahawks to back-to-back Super Bowl appearances in 2014-15 and racked up five Pro Bowl appearances between 2008-14.
A member of the NFL’s 2010's All-Decade Team, Lynch has competed for seven seasons in a Seahawks uniform and will participate in the Kraken “Hockey is for Everyone” campaign, partnering for youth and community activism events.
“On God, I’ve been a part of a lot of things, but this is something I never would have imagined—as a young hyena I always dreamed of playing on a professional team but owning one is something special,” said Lynch in a team statement.
“As I look back on some of my accomplishments—I retired before I was 30 and now being an owner of a professional club at the age of 35–I’m gonna continue to count my blessings…being a part of the Seattle Kraken is something big for me it gives me another chance to get a ring after helping bring the first NFL one to the city.”