Snoop Dogg plans to start youth hockey league along with Ottawa Senators bid
Rapper Snoop Dogg says he has plans to grow hockey in the U.S. if he becomes a part-owner of the Ottawa Senators.
"I've been watching hockey for about 25 years now, and I'm watching more and more kids that look like me play the game, but I'm not seeing it being offered to the kids over here in America," he told ESPN's First Take on Tuesday.
"This opportunity came …for me to be a part of the ownership of the Ottawa Senators, so I jumped on it."
Snoop made the remarks a day after he publicly announced that he's part of Los Angeles entrepreneur Neko Sparks's bid for the Senators.
Snoop said along with buying the Senators, the group plans to start a Snoop Youth Hockey League outside of Canada.
"The kids need to know there is an option to play hockey if you look like me," he said.
The rapper founded his Snoop Youth Football League, which he said has sent more than 20,000 kids to Division I schools, in 2005. Many of them come from gang-riddled, poverty-stricken communities, he said.
"If we was to bring another sport, such as hockey, which is on TV and they can see it, now these kids can learn how to play the sport. They can understand that this is another way out," he said.
Sparks and his group would be the first Black-led ownership group in the NHL. Snoop said he believes a Black-led ownership group would "change the face of hockey."
The news of Snoop's interest in the Senators was first reported by The Athletic.
He joins another A-list celebrity, Ryan Reynolds, as a prospective owner of the Senators. Multiple reports say May 15 is the deadline for final bids.
Reynolds has partnered with Toronto-based real estate firm the Remington Group to make a bid. Postmedia has reported that the group is preparing a bid of more than $1 billion to buy the Senators and the Canadian Tire Centre.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in late March that there were about a half-dozen groups seeking to buy the team.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Masters champion Scottie Scheffler arrested at PGA Championship for traffic violation
Masters champion Scottie Scheffler was arrested Friday morning on his way to the PGA Championship, with stunning images showing him handcuffed as he was taken to jail for not following police orders during a pedestrian fatality investigation.
NEW What a wildfire survivor says she regrets not grabbing before leaving home
Carol Christian had 15 minutes to evacuate her home during the Fort McMurray wildfires in 2016. She ended up losing the house and everything inside. Now, she wants to share the lessons she learned.
Four 1970s homicides linked to serial killer, Alberta Mounties to reveal Friday
A dead serial sexual offender and killer has been linked to four homicides in the 1970s in Alberta, RCMP say.
Ontario sees first measles death in more than a decade after young child dies
A young child has died of measles in Ontario, marking the first death in the province from the highly contagious virus in more than 10 years, a Public Health Ontario report confirms.
Think twice before sharing 'heartbreaking' social media posts, RCMP warn
Mounties in B.C. are urging people to think twice before sharing "heartbreaking posts" on social media.
One way Canadians are shrinking rising grocery bills
As the cost of food in Canada has risen, grocery shoppers are looking at ways to reduce their grocery bill, and more are choosing price over beauty, turning to companies that deliver so-called 'misfit' produce at a fraction of the cost.
'Another pair of eyes watching over me:' How a B.C. woman's guide dog saved her from drowning
A B.C. woman says her guide dog pulled her from a lake moments before she had a seizure, saving her life.
Vatican revamps norms to evaluate visions of Mary as it adapts to internet age and combats hoaxers
The Vatican on Friday radically reformed its process for evaluating alleged visions of the Virgin Mary, weeping statues and other seemingly supernatural phenomena, insisting on having the final say in whether the events are worthy of popular devotion.
Wildfires are dampening against cool, rainy weather, but there's plenty left to contain
An opportune system of cool, wet weather Friday is dampening the spread of wildfires across Western Canada, but there's still plenty of work for responders and residents alike.