Marshawn Lynch, Macklemore become investors in NHL's Seattle Kraken
The Kraken’s inaugural season as an NHL expansion team may not be going as well as it hoped, but a recent expansion of its ownership group should prove quite pleasing to fans in Seattle. The Kraken announced Monday that it added former Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch and locally based hip-hop star Macklemore as minority stakeholders.
For Lynch, who spent the heart of his career in Seattle and helped the Seahawks to their only Super Bowl victory in 2014, joining forces with the Kraken gives him “another chance to get a ring” and further engage in community-oriented initiatives.
“I have so much love and appreciation for Seattle, like, for real,” Lynch said in comments shared by the Kraken. “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.”
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The Kraken said that Lynch, 35, will “participate in the team’s ‘Hockey is for Everyone’ campaign and work with the team to plan events focused on young people and community activism.”
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.
Thank you @SeattleKraken, shout out to @macklemore. Seattle, I’m here. Stand Up!!! pic.twitter.com/K35DNZrVPX
The five-time Pro Bowl selection, who briefly came out of retirement in January 2020 to help the injury-wracked Seahawks make a playoff run, founded a charity aimed at helping underserved youth in his hometown of Oakland. Macklemore (real name: Ben Haggerty) is a Seattle native whose interest in social issues has included efforts to assist the city’s unhoused population.
“I’d say that perhaps we didn’t need just two more investors. But these are investors who uniquely want to help us in the community and are excited about what we’re doing,” Kraken chief executive Tod Leiweke told the Associated Press on Monday.
Lynch already has some experience as a part-owner of a sports franchise since buying a piece last year of Oakland Roots SC, a three-year-old soccer team that plays in the USL Championship. A college star at Cal-Berkeley, he was a first-round draft pick in 2007 by the Buffalo Bills, who traded him to the Seahawks during the 2011 season. Lynch spent his final two full seasons, in 2017 and 2018, with the Raiders, who were then based in Oakland.
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“He’s intrigued with the idea of what’s it’s like to be an owner and the business side and the financing,” Leiweke, whose team sits near the bottom of the Western Conference standings, said of Lynch to CNBC. “And it will be a thrill taking him on that journey.”
Lynch said Monday that he was “ready to get it going” with the Kraken’s community outreach programs.
“And you know I’m not afraid to strap on some skates if it comes down to it,” he added.
The ex-running back nicknamed “Beast Mode” for his hard-charging style made an appearance on the ice Monday, but not in skates. Lynch was given a chance to drive a Zamboni over the rink at Seattle’s Kraken Community Iceplex, and he made the most of the opportunity to do some doughnuts.
“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,” said Lynch. “Being a part of the Seattle Kraken is something big for me. … Joining up with the squad to have some meaningful impact was a no-brainer.”
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