Snoop Dogg and Ryan Reynolds Are Competing to Buy the Same NHL Team

The battle for the Ottawa Senators just got more intense.

The Athletic reports that rapper Snoop Dogg is teaming up with film producer and entrepreneur Neko Sparks “in an aggressive pursuit” of purchasing the hockey team. “He’s passionately involved. He’s coming up with ideas. And he’s legitimately excited,” a source told the outlet. “He wants this team.”

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The report also cited unspecified sources that the Sparks group—which consists of over 12 investors, most of whom are people of color—is “not intimidated by the notion of the final sale price for the NHL franchise eclipsing $1 billion,” however it isn’t clear how much Snoop Dogg would be investing in the venture.

Snoop Dogg appeared to confirm the news, posting a photo on Instagram of Sparks and the team with the headline: “Breaking Ice: Ottawa Senators may have first black NHL owner.” Dogg wrote in a caption: “Amazing what @neko_sparks is trying to do in Ottawa & I’m looking forward to being apart (sic) of that ownership team. I WANNA BRING HOCKEY TO OUR COMMUNITY.”

Snoop Dogg has had some involvement in the sport, collaborating with NHL.com in 2018 on a video series, “Hockey 101 with Snoop Dogg,” USA Today noted. He also helped call a 2019 Los Angeles Kings-Pittsburgh Penguins game.

The Ottawa Sun previously reported that seven ownership groups are in the running. One of those groups is Ryan Reynolds and the Remington Group, which is led by real estate mogul Christopher Bratty. The Sun previously reported that Reynolds and his business partners were “prepared to bid more than $1 billion to buy the Senators and the Canadian Tire Centre.”

Part of the group’s proposal includes building a new arena for the team, potentially in a new area, according to CBS Sports. If he succeeded in purchasing The Senators, it wouldn’t be Reynolds’ first sports team purchase; he bought Welsh soccer club Wrexham FC with It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia actor Rob McElhenney in 2020.

The team’s longtime owner Eugene Melnyk died in March 2022 at the age of 62, according to USA Today. The deadline to place a bid on the team is May 15.

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