Kraken add Zamboni-driving Marshawn Lynch, Macklemore as minority team owners
The Kraken now have Beast Mode.
And a Thrift Shopper.
Seattle’s first-year National Hockey League team announced Monday former Seahawks star Marshawn Lynch and Seattle-based Grammy Award-winning rapper Macklemore are new part owners of the Kraken.
The team made the news with a video it produced of Lynch doing doughnuts on the rink while comically commandeering a Zamboni ice-resurfacing machine at the Kraken’s training center at Northgate in Seattle.
Lynch and Macklemore, whose real name is Ben Haggerty, are the newest members of the first-year NHL team’s investor group. It is led by Kraken billionaire founder and majority owner David Bonderman and Samantha Holloway, chairperson of the Kraken’s executive committee.
“Both guys love our community and bring legacies of giving back,” Kraken CEO Tod Leiweke said of Lynch and Macklemore in a statement the team issued Monday. “We are thrilled to add them to our investor group. They have each committed to unique programs using the team and arena as a means of making positive social change.
“Marshawn knows how to drive a Zamboni and Macklemore has a pretty good wrist shot. More to come!”
Lynch is from Oakland, California. He has been to Stanley Cup Finals games of the San Jose Sharks. The Kraken said he and Macklemore “will lead major Kraken and Climate Pledge Arena initiatives to connect with hockey fans, music lovers and community members alike.”
The always-unique Lynch said ... well, read for yourself.
“On God, I’ve been a part of a lot of things, but this is something I never would have imagined,” said Lynch, who won a Super Bowl with the Seahawks while playing for Seattle from 2010-15 and again late in the ‘19 season. “As a young hyena I always dreamed of playing on a professional team but owning one is something special.
“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.
“And if you thought I was goin’ somewhere, nah Seattle, I’m here! Stand up!!!!”
The Kraken says the former NFL All-Pro and five-time Pro Bowl running back will participate in its “Hockey is for Everyone” campaign. He will work with the team to plan events focused on young people and community activism.
“I have so much love and appreciation for Seattle, like, for real,” Lynch said. “The thing is, I know Seattle looks out for and supports me, too. It’s only right I continue to plant seeds and give back to the city. The Kraken have been committed to connecting with diverse communities in Seattle since Day One. Joining up with the squad to have some meaningful impact was a no-brainer.”
Macklemore said he also is impressed with the Kraken’s commitment to making hockey and skating accessible for all.
He says he’s been on ice skates “two or three times, enough not to fall down immediately.”
“It’s all about growing the game and making it available to whoever wants to play,” Macklemore said in the team’s statement, “without the roadblock of money and opening rinks to introduce the sport.”
The Kraken are entering the final two weeks of its inaugural season. Playing in front of sold-out crowds at sparkling, new Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle Center, the Kraken entered its home game against Ottawa Monday night in last place in NHL’s Pacific Division with 24 wins, 44 losses and six overtime losses.
“We are fortunate to have an incredibly strong investor group which has guided the franchise over the last four years (since the NHL granted Seattle its new hockey team),” Holloway, chairperson of the Kraken’s executive committee, said. “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.”
This story was originally published April 18, 2022 at 11:00 AM.
