Already a part-owner of Welsh football club Wrexham A.F.C., Ryan Reynolds had hoped to add an NHL team to his investment portfolio.
However, according to ESPN’s Emily Kaplan, Reynolds, and his ownership group will not move forward with their bid for the Ottawa Senators, bowing out just days before the May 15th deadline to submit their final offer. The Remington Group’s bid was believed to be north of $1 billion.
Other suitors include Snoop Dogg (funded by Los Angeles investor Neko Sparks) and Grammy-winning recording artist The Weeknd, with financial backing from billionaire brothers Michael and Jeffrey Kimel. Best known for his starring role as the title character in Marvel’s Deadpool franchise, Reynolds expressed his ownership interest during a recent talk-show appearance on Jimmy Fallon, acknowledging that buying the Senators (valued by Forbes at an estimated $800 million) would take incredibly “deep pockets.”
“It’s very expensive,” said Reynolds at the time. “It’s called a consortium when you form a group together to buy an entity. It’s just a fancy way of saying I need a sugar mommy or a sugar daddy.”
A budding entrepreneur, the Vancouver native has grown his wealth by investing in Aviation Gin and Mint Mobile, with the latter acquired by T-Mobile for $1.35 billion earlier this year. Since 2020, Reynolds has co-owned Wrexham with fellow actor Rob McElhenney of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia fame, recently earning a promotion to England’s fourth division (EFL League Two).
Commissioner Gary Bettman was impressed by Reynolds’ presentation when he met with him in December, believing his involvement in the Senators’ ownership bid would be “great for the league.” The Senators began exploring options to sell shortly after the death of longtime owner Eugene Melnyk, who purchased the team for $92 million in 2003.
About Jesse Pantuosco
Jesse Pantuosco joined Awful Announcing as a contributing writer in May 2023. He’s also written for Audacy and NBC Sports. A graduate of Syracuse’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications with a master’s degree in creative writing from Fairfield University, Pantuosco has won three Fantasy Sports Writers Association Awards. He lives in West Hartford, Connecticut and never misses a Red Sox, Celtics or Patriots game.