Snoop Dogg Joins Bid to Buy the Ottawa Senators

Hip-hop icon Snoop Dogg announced on Instagram today he’s part of a Los Angeles group that’s in the running to buy the Ottawa Senators.

When pro sports franchises change hands, it can be a pretty long, drawn out, drab affair, involving lawyers, accountants and wealthy businessmen most people have never heard of. 

But the sale of the Ottawa Senators has been anything but dull. Who would have thought the Senators, in one of the NHL's smaller markets, would ever have a price tag of a billion dollars or attract all this celebrity attention? 

Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds has grabbed most of the headlines to this point. Earlier this year, Reynolds tied his wagon to The Remington Group, a real estate developer based in the GTA. And that bid seems to be the front runner right now, thanks in large part to Reynolds wild popularity and a now-proven ability to promote professional sports ventures. “Welcome to Wrexham,” the successful TV documentary series he created about his Welsh pro soccer team surely has hockey executives drooling, wondering if he can work the same promotional magic for the Senators and the NHL.

The Remington Group topper is their apparent willingness to pay $1 billion for the franchise, as Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reported last week. That would be a nice little profit following the club's $50 million expansion fee in the early 90s.

But Los Angeles-based film producer and entrepreneur Neko Sparks apparently isn't blinking at the price tag, nor will his group be outdone in the celebrity department. 

The latest A-lister to join the Senators' ownership fray is hip-hop artist Snoop Dogg. He confirmed today on Instagram he's part of the Sparks bid.

“Amazing what Neko Sparks is trying to do in Ottawa,” Snoop Dog wrote on his social media. ”I'm looking forward to being a part of that ownership team. I WANNA BRING HOCKEY TO OUR COMMUNITY.”

Ian Mendes had the Dogg scoop in The Athletic, and also reported Snoop Dogg might like to try his hand at jumping in on the Sens TV broadcasts, like he did during the 2007 Cup Final in between the Senators and Ducks.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTa3h7pN8J0[/embed]

The club has come a long way from the franchise that, twenty years ago, had almost no ownership interest beyond Eugene Melnyk. Final bids for the Senators are reportedly due in two weeks.