Sparks group adds Dragons' Den investors as Senators fans await ownership decision
As Ottawa Senators fans anxiously wait to find out who will own their hockey team, one of the bidders is continuing to add new investors to their lineup.
A group led by L.A. entrepreneur Neko Sparks has added several stars from the CBC show Dragons' Den to its roster of investors. Arlene Dickinson, Robert Herjavec, Wes Hall, and Manjit and Ravinder Minhas are all joining the bid, according to a news release issued Monday evening.
The Sparks group is one of four who submitted final bids for the team by last Monday's deadline. If the group is If that group is successful, it would be the NHL's first Black-led ownership group.
"I love everything about the game, but I just didn’t see too many people that look like me playing the game," Hall, who was born in Jamaica and moved to Toronto as a teen, told CTV News in an interview. "Now I have an opportunity to change that. So that excites me, and that’s one of the main reasons why I decided to back Neko and do this deal."
Postmedia has reported that three of the bids came from Toronto-area businessmen: Michael Andlauer, who owns a minority stake in the Montreal Canadiens; Jeffrey and Michael Kimel, who were formerly involved with the Pittsburgh Penguins and whose bid reportedly includes Canadian singer-songwriter The Weeknd; and Steve Apostolopoulos, who recently submitted an unsuccessful $6-billion bid to own the NFL's Washington Commanders.
The ever-growing Sparks group has been the most vocal, with Canadian names being added to the roster even after the bidding deadline.
On Saturday, comedian Russell Peters announced he had joined up with the bid. The day before, Olympic gold medallist Donovan Bailey said he was part of the group. The group is also in discussions with Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg First Nation.
Hall also suggested the Sparks group would plan to build a downtown arena for the Senators.
"Ottawa should not be closed down when Parliament is out of session or after 5 o'clock when folks go home," he said. "It should be a vibrant, thriving city, and that’s what we’re going to be able to bring to the city. We’re going to bring an arena and all the infrastructure surrounding that atmosphere to make the city a thriving metropolis."
The news release also said that TAAG, an Ottawa firm, has created a Special Purpose Vehicle for Canadian investors to participate in Sparks' bid.
A.J. Perez, senior reporter for Front Office Sports tells CTV News Ottawa that the groups bidding on the Senators are still engaged but at least one is putting financing together to either increase their bid or shore up what they have.
"investors Sparks has brought in, we’re still trying to figure out where the big money is. I know these are a lot of wealthy people but we’re talking about a roughly billion dollar sale, so the first thing – as a person who covers a lot of these sales – is where is the money coming from?" Perez said. "There seems to be the other groups have a little more verifiable capital than Sparks does."
Concordia University's Moshe Lander says the extra partners Sparks is announcing could be a sign he is having trouble keeping up.
"My first thought when I saw the news this morning is that maybe this bid is having a difficult time coming up with the financing to support the bid they put in," Lander said. "To me this an issue that I’m now concerned this group does not have their funding together. Let’s remember none of these people are going to be involved in hockey operations."
Other sports franchises have several minority stake owners, but Lander says there's more to consider beyond the number of people involved.
"To me, the concern is why are you bringing them on now when everything should have been decided? That’s to me the thing that makes me question whether this would work, not that there’s this many people."
Perez echoed a similar sentiment.
"The Washington Commanders are going to have potentially up to 17 limited partners, Sparks doesn’t have that many yet. It’s kind of more who’s the capital?" Perez said.
The Senators went up for sale following the death of Eugene Melnyk, who passed ownership onto his daughters Anna and Olivia Melnyk. Forbes recently valued the Senators at $800 million USD.
It's unclear when the successful bid will be announced.
- with files from Colton Praill, CTV News Ottawa
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
NEW Is there a cost to convenience? Canada approves new cancer immunotherapy treatment
A new cancer treatment recently approved in Canada promises to cut treatment time down to just minutes, but experts have differing opinions on whether it's what's best for patients.
Air Canada walks back new seat selection policy change after backlash
Air Canada has paused a new seat selection fee for travellers booked on the lowest fares just days after implementing it.
Canada's new dental program offering hope of free care to millions but many dentists aren't signed up
A new Canadian dental care program is offering the hope of free care to millions, but while 1.7 million people have signed up for the plan, only about 5,000 dentists have done the same.
Province boots mayor and council in small northern Ont. town out of office
An ongoing municipal strike, court battles and revolt by half of council has prompted the province to oust the mayor and council in Black River-Matheson.
King Charles III returns to public duties with a trip to a cancer charity
King Charles III returned to public duties on Tuesday, visiting a cancer treatment charity and beginning his carefully managed comeback after the monarch's own cancer diagnosis sidelined him for three months.
NDP says Ottawa's new grocery task force isn't living up to government promises
The federal government says the task force it created to monitor and investigate grocery retailers' practices has not conducted any probes and doesn't have a mandate to take enforcement action.
A group of Toronto tenants have been on a rent strike for a year and say there's no resolution in sight
Dozens of tenants in Toronto's Thorncliffe Park area have now been withholding their rent for one year, and it’s unclear when the dispute will end.
U.K. police arrest man wielding a sword in east London, 5 people are taken to the hospital
A man wielding a sword attacked members of the public and two police officers on Tuesday in the east London community of Hainault before being arrested, police said.
Archeologists search for remnants of Halifax's 250-year-old wall that surrounded the city
Archeologist Jonathan Fowler is using ground-penetrating radar to search for historic evidence of the massive wall that surrounded Halifax more than 250 years ago.