Collaboration is the first to unite a professional women’s sports franchise and recording artist, focused on community impact and the cultural connection of sports and music
Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon becomes the first individual Lynx Changemaker, furthering 2 A Billion’s mission to end gender inequity, domestic violence and sexual abuse
MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL – The Minnesota Lynx and Bon Iver today announced a first-of-its-kind partnership focused on gender equity and community impact. The groundbreaking collaboration is a first across professional women’s sports, with a pro women’s sports team and a multi-Grammy award-winning musician and art project joining forces to create and effect meaningful impact.
The multi-year partnership begins with the 2025 Lynx season and will focus on addressing gender inequities as a result of domestic and sexual violence, sex trafficking, health care disparities and barriers within education and leadership.
“Basketball is exactly like music. It’s a group and individual improvising to create moments of vision, excitement and joy. Simply said, the Minnesota Lynx team is my favorite band in the world right now. As Bon Iver, we also saw an unprecedented opportunity to not only support this band of incredible women on the court, but by combining forces to more urgently support the communities of women in the Upper Midwest,” said Justin Vernon of Bon Iver.
“We are incredibly excited about this innovative and first-of-its-kind partnership, centered around community impact and the cultural connection of sports and music. Justin is an incredibly passionate supporter of the Lynx, and our complete value alignment has allowed us to create a partnership focused on meaningful societal change,” said Lynx President of Business Operations Carley Knox.
Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon is a strong advocate for gender equity and helped to create Bon Iver’s 2 A Billion, a campaign that raises support, awareness and person-to-person connections in an effort to end gender inequity, domestic violence and sexual abuse. With deep roots and family ties in both Wisconsin and Minnesota, Vernon is also a long-time Lynx fan, constantly discussing his love for the team during the promotion of Bon Iver’s latest album release, SABLE, fABLE.
Highlights of the Minnesota Lynx and Bon Iver partnership include:
The Lynx Changemakers platform is designed to transcend traditional sponsorship and pave the way for major local companies or individuals to invest in women’s sports in a new way. By combining purpose-driven activation with direct financial support of local organizations, the Minnesota business community will have the opportunity to collectively showcase their commitment to fostering gender equity and women’s leadership through the power of sports. The team-level program is modeled after the WNBA’s successful league-level platform launched in 2020.
Bon Iver is an art project based in Wisconsin.
2 A Billion is a campaign created by Bon Iver to raise support, awareness and person-to-person connections in an effort to end gender inequity, domestic violence and sexual abuse.
