Snoop Dogg leaving the LBC for O-Town?
Seems like perhaps that’s a possibility, as The Athletic’s senior hockey writer, Ian Mendes, revealed to BMitch & Finlay Friday that Calvin Broadus, best known by his rap handle, is one of the investors in a group looking to purchase the NHL’s Ottawa Senators.
“Earlier this week, we were able to lock it down and Snoop blasted it out on social: he’s part of a group that is interested in purchasing the Ottawa Senators,” Mendes said. “Shocking turn of events, because we already had an A-list celebrity in Ryan Reynolds kicking the tires on buying the team, but here in the 11th hour, here comes Snoop.”
Snoop is a huge sports fan, and hockey is no slouch in that world – he was in the NHL ’20 video game as a guest announcer and playable character. And now, he has joined L.A. entrepreneur Neko Sparks and his group in their bid to purchase the Senators for what could be the NHL’s first ten-figure price.
“The Ottawa Senators are going to be about a $1 billion sale, which would be the highest price tag ever paid for an NHL team,” Mendes said. “Snoop is part of a group Sparks has put together of about 10 or 12 investors, and the majority of them are made up of people of color – and if you know anything about the hockey landscape, one thing we grapple with is how to inject diversity, so this is an intriguing situation.”
Steve Apostolopoulos, who has been in the mix for the Commanders, has also “kicked the tires” on a purchase, and is, Mendes believes, one of five or six bidders who might put in an offer by the mid-May deadline set by the Melnyk family, who owns the team in trust after Eugene Melnyk’s death last year.
But what are the chances Snoop and the Sparks group make Ottawa part of the Doggy Dogg World?
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“This is what I think is nuts, because if we had this conversation last week, I’d say it was zero percent – it’s more than that now, but all I will say is this certainly threw a wrench into the situation,” Mendes said. “I’m sure the NHL was aware of this, but certainly from a public perception standpoint, I think a lot of people would like to see this – but if you had to set odds, it’s so hard, because there are a few groups involved. Snoop came out of left field, but he certainly made the landscape more interesting.”
It may seem weird that a Los Angeles-based group wants to buy a team in Ottawa, but it’s likely not in an attempt to move the franchise somewhere else, more because this is a potential once-in-a-generation opportunity.
“Ottawa is a much more mid-level team in terms of market size and fan base, but hockey is everything up here, so the opportunity to purchase a Canadian hockey franchise doesn’t happen a lot,” Mendes said. “I think this is why it’s so attractive.”
Oh, and here’s a fun parallel to DC: Mendes noted that the previous Senators owner, Eugene Melnyk, is best described as “the exact equivalent to Dan Snyder to a T.”
“You’re talking about a person who took something a community loved, drove it off a cliff, and kind of detached themselves from every aspect of the community,” Mendes said. “You bring a competent, stable owner here, people will re-engage, and there won’t be any thought of moving the franchise.”
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