Global Courant 2023-05-16 20:20:30
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OTTAWA – Snoop Dogg has welcomed Canada’s First Nations with open arms in his bid to buy the NHL’s Ottawa Senators.
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The rapper is part of a group led by Los Angeles-based businessman Neko Sparks that is trying to buy the NHL franchise. Snoop Dogg posted a video to Instagram on Monday alluding to reports that the Sparks-led offer would include an equity stake for local Indigenous communities.
“It’s your big boy Snoop Dogg giving a shout out to the First Nations of Canada, that’s right, for joining Neko Sparks in the Ottawa Senators’ bid,” he said, standing in a recording studio with a senator’s jersey. “We’re trying to do something, we’re trying to make a difference.”
Senators Sports & Entertainment’s board of directors began the process last November to sell the team following the death of owner Eugene Melnyk earlier that year. Melnyk left the franchise to his daughters, Anna and Olivia.
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Another bid includes Canadian R&B singer The Weeknd, who media reports have agreed to partner in a bid led by Toronto billionaires Jeffrey and Michael Kimel.
A recent valuation by Forbes listed the Senators at $800 million, 24th out of the NHL’s 30 teams.
Monday was the deadline for submitting bids to New York-based banker Galatioto Sports Partners, which is handling the sale for the Melnyk family. The Ottawa Suns reports that four groups have submitted bids and one of them was at $1 billion.
Snoop Dogg, a longtime hockey fan, has said he would use his stake in the Senators to help the sport grow in the United States, especially among black kids.
“I mean it’s official like a referee with a whistle,” Snoop said in Monday’s video. “We are all trying to make it better together. We just need you to push the lever and give us control.’
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on May 16, 2023.
