Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The Rock Part of a Group Bidding to Buy the Ottawa Senators

Originally posted on NHL Trade Talk | Last updated 3/23/23

The NHL and a number of fans are reportedly keenly interested in The Remington Group’s bid to purchase the Ottawa Senators because of the marketing and promotion that Hollywood actor Ryan Reynolds — who has aligned himself with that group — can bring to the team. Reynolds is a marketing whiz and he’s already proven he can buy into a sports franchise (Wrexham AFC) and turn his purchase into a successful documentary about the club, increasing sales and improving the on-field results.

Recent news suggests there might be a bigger Hollywood A-Lister who has joined a different group bidding on the purchase of the Ottawa Senators. That megastar is The Rock, and he’s apparently part of the Neko Sparks Group who has put in a big rumored to be upwards of $950 million.

The news comes via the “Coming in Hot with Wallace, York, and Ryan” podcast. Brent Wallace noted that Neko Sparks has put together quite the group of backers and in that group might be Dywane ‘The Rock’ Johnson, who is reportedly worth about $800 million and just relaunched the XFL in the past month. Like Reynolds, The Rock’s social following is massive (370 million Instagram followers) and he also owns his own production company called Seven Bucks Production.

If there was anyone that could sway the NHL away from supporting Reynolds being involved and as a viable marketing alternative, it is The Rock. Not only that, but Wallace suggests that if The Remington Group doesn’t get the bid, the friendly relationship between The Rock and Reynolds could actually lead to Reynolds jumping over to the Neko Sparks Group down the road.

Wallace notes, “The Neko Sparks group is backed by UK brothers in the Ruban Family who have a combined net worth of $15 billion. Some of the richest people in the UK. They also own part of the Newcastle United F.C.” Wallace also notes there are rumors that musical artist The Weekend is involved in this as well.

He adds that the hockey advisory part of that group is being led by Mattias Nordstrom, who is very close friends with Senators’ alumn Daniel Alfredsson. Neko Sparks already has a relationship with the Ottawa Senators as he does a lot of AI stuff for the franchise.

This article first appeared on NHL Trade Talk and was syndicated with permission.

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