Ryan Reynolds and Snoop Dogg were both eyeing a chance to own their first major North American sports team, but neither could win the bid.
Instead, the NHL’s Ottawa Senators will be acquired for nearly $1 billion by Andlauer Management Group CEO Michael Andlauer after an agreement was made on Tuesday, June 13, according to Sportico. The deal is still pending the approval of the league.
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Andlauer is also the minority owner of the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens and the owner of the OHL’s Hamilton Bulldogs. He’s acquiring the Senators from the estate of Eugene Melnyk, who passed away over a year ago.
The Senators were valued at $655 million by Sportico in 2022, 27th out of 32 NHL teams.
Nine different groups bid for the Senators before the first deadline in March, including Reynolds and the Remington Group and Neko Sparks’ group, which was bolstered by Snoop Dogg. There were four groups included in the follow-up bid, which included Andlauer, Sparks, Canadian businessman Steve Apostolopoulos, and Pittsburgh Penguins minority owners Jeffrey and Michael Kimel.
Reynolds’ group was no longer included in the final group of bidders, so the actor will need to look for other ways to expand his growing business portfolio, which includes the Wales soccer team Wrexham FC and Mint Mobile.
Snoop Dogg was hoping to diversify the audience of hockey with his bid, especially because only a small percentage of NHL players are people of color. His group with Sparks would have been one of the most diverse ownership groups in professional sports, but they’ll now have to look elsewhere to grow the game.
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