Move over Ryan Reynolds, there’s another celebrity out there with eyes on buying the Ottawa Senators.
Yes, that’s right, Snoop Dogg is putting his bid in to buy the Senators and he’s 100 percent serious. On Thursday, Snoop Dogg confirmed his bid for NHL team ownership — as part of Neko Sparks’ group — with The Athletic, stating that this is in no way a publicity stunt
“This ain’t no joke or no gimmick. Or an image or likeness play. This is a real ownership play,” he said. “And Snoop will put his foot in the town.”
To do so, Snoop Dogg will have to beat out Reynolds and the Remington Group, with the bidding possibly set to reach $1 billion, a record for the NHL. Previously, the Pittsburgh Penguins were bought by Fenway Sports Group for around $900 million back in late 2021.
Though Snoop Dogg’s only just thrown his hat in the ring for ownership of the Senators, he’s already starting to make some good points. In his interview with The Athletic, Snoop Dogg was honest in his assessment of the NHL’s poor marketing of its stars in the United States.
good question snoop dogg! pic.twitter.com/11OXyku9Nw
— Hailey Salvian (@hailey_salvian) May 4, 2023
Not only that, Snoop Dogg sees this ownership bid with Sparks’ group as a real chance to help improve one of the NHL’s most dire areas of need: diversity.
“Your league has Canadians, Russians, Europeans, African-Americans. So there should be a mixed variety of owners,” Snoop Dogg said to The Athletic. “So if something happens outside your race, you’ll have some understanding. Now you have a different tone in that room, instead of one mindset.”
Time will tell which group ends up buying the Senators, but Snoop Dogg already has put forth a pretty great marketing pitch.