Report: Grammy winner joins bidding war for NHL's Ottawa Senators

The Ottawa Senators are seeing stars.

Music superstar The Weeknd, whose given name is Abel Tesfaye, "agreed to be a partner in the bid by Toronto billionaires Jeffrey and Michael Kimel of the Harlo Capital Group" to purchase the Senators, according to Ottawa Sun.

Previous reports revealed rapper Snoop Dogg (nee Calvin Broadus Jr.) is part of a bid with American film producer Neko Sparks while actor Ryan Reynolds, who famously became part-owner of the soccer club Wrexham AFC in Nov. 2020, partnered with Remington Group on a $1 billion bid.

In 2019, Tesfaye partnered with the Kimels in esports when he joined the OverActive Media Group, which owns the Overwatch League's Toronto Defiant. Last year, Broadus became part owner of BIG3 basketball's Bivouac squad.

The Senators were put up for sale in Nov. 2022 after owner Eugene Melnyk died in March of that year. Per Sportico, the franchise has a valuation of $655 million, which ranks 27th in the league.

In November 2022, CBC reported the Senators entered a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the National Capital Commission, which is the first step toward a potential new arena in downtown Ottawa. That could turn out to be significant. Per Sportico, "Securing that agreement ... would likely impact the franchise's sale price."

The Senators are mired in a six-year playoff drought, last reaching the postseason in 2017 when it lost in the conference finals. The franchise has one Stanley Cup Finals appearance in its 30 seasons.

Getting Hollywood celebrities to fight over it might be the best thing for Ottawa. Any of the three would make a splash. Broadus is a widely popular rapper with over 30 million records sold worldwide, three Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 singles and 12 top 10s. Last year, he joined Dr. Dre, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, and Mary J. Blige as a headliner for the Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show.

Tesfaye is the most-listened-to artist in Spotify history, becoming the first to top 100 million monthly listeners in Mar. 2023. He has seven Hot 100 No. 1s and 16 top-10 singles. He also headlined the Super Bowl LV Halftime Show in 2021.

Reynolds hasn't played a Super Bowl yet but has several film credits to his name, most famously his role as the title character in "Deadpool." As a lead actor, Reynolds' films have made over $3 billion at the global box office. 

Per Sports Business Journal, "final deals 'will be due' in mid-May," which means there should be a resolution soon as to which celebrity gets a share of the Senators.