A new star player has officially entered the Ottawa Senators sweepstakes.
Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds has teamed up with Remington Group, a real estate development corporation based in Vaughan, in a bid to buy the NHL franchise, according to Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun.
Reynolds will be a partner in a consortium that will make a bid for the team and is determined to build a new rink at LeBreton Flats in downtown Ottawa.
Last November, People magazine reported that the “Deadpool” actor, who grew in Vancouver but spent time in the Ottawa area when he was younger, was interested in buying the NHL club in the nation’s capital. The actor confirmed on “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon” that the report was true.
“Yes, it’s true. It is very expensive,” Reynolds said on the talk show. “I need a partner with really deep pockets.”
According to Garrioch, the Remington Group sold Reynolds on the vision they have to turn the franchise into a winner and build a state-of-the-art home for the Senators. Remington Group president Christopher Bratty is leading the bid, the report said, but Reynolds would be the face of the Senators’ franchise and play a key role in the decision making for the future of the club.
Garrioch previously reported that if Reynolds does get his wish and is involved with the Senators, he plans to bring his production company Maximum Effort to Ottawa to produce a series on the purchase of the franchise and the building of a new rink. When Reynolds and fellow actor Rob McElhenney purchased Wrexham AFC, the oldest soccer club in Wales, in 2021, Maximum Effort produced “Welcome To Wrexham,” which started streaming on Disney Plus last year.
At the NHL’s board of governor’s meeting in December, Chris Johnston of NorthStar Bets reported that Reynolds made a strong impression on commissioner Gary Bettman and Bill Daly during a recent meeting.
“He’s very smart,” Bettman said at the time. “He has a number of businesses besides the acting business and he understands sports and he understands promotion. I think he told us his followers on all of his platforms combined are well over 100 million.
“He’s somebody who is very popular and very engaged.”
The Senators were previously owned by Eugene Melnyk, who died at the age of 62 in March of last year. In November, the board of directors of Senators Sports & Entertainment said Friday that a process has been initiated for the sale of the NHL club.
Braydon Holmyard is a Star sports team editor based in Toronto. Follow him on Twitter: @braydonholmyard
This content was originally published here.
