P. Diddy has a strange way of speaking things into existence. Three months after he made his desires to be involved in the Panthers’ new ownership group known through Twitter, the entertainment mogul might be getting his wish.
Diddy on Twitter
I would like to buy the @Panthers. Spread the word. Retweet!
Reports say Diddy and Golden State Warriors All-Star Stephen Curry are among a strong, diverse group that e-commerce billionaire Michael Rubin is comprising as potential minority owners in his effort to purchase the Carolina Panthers, a source told ESPN.com on Tuesday. There are two other groups also in the running.
Rubin already owns a stake in the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers, the NHL’s New Jersey Devils and the Premier League’s Crystal Palace. He is worth $3 billion, according to Forbes, so he would have the money to put down the required 30 percent of the sale price the league requires for the majority owner.
Sports Illustrated on Twitter
Diddy and Steph Curry are reportedly part of an ownership group bidding to buy the Panthers https://t.co/R479eWZiYY
When P.Diddy announced in December of 2017 that he was interested in buying the Panthers after owner Jerry Richardson put the team up for sale amidst an NFL investigation into allegations of workplace misconduct, the Hip-Hop generation took him dead serious as we have witnessed his grind, his genius and his penchant for creating star people, star companies and star brands.
Ownership has always been his game and he has permanent living quarters in Forbes’ Top 5 richest music industry giants, so Diddy has bank to offer.
He may not be a billionaire, but if anyone can gather a group of African-Americans with paper to invest in an NFL team, then Diddy can do it. When Steph Curry threw his hat into the ring, Black America got really excited.
In the leagues nearly 100-year history, it has never included an African-American principal owner. Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan, a Pakistani-American, became the NFLs only minority principal owner in 2011. In 2009, Venus and Serena Williams became the first female African-Americans to hold an ownership stake in an NFL franchise, when they bought a small share of the Miami Dolphins. Other people of color who own small shares of the Dolphins include Gloria and Emilio Estefan and Marc Anthony.
The Estefans are the first Cuban-Americans to hold an ownership stake in an NFL team, while Anthony is a New York native of Puerto Rican descent.
I think this is the time for an African-American to make a heck of a run at it, said John Wooten, chairman of the Fritz Pollard Alliance, which promotes NFL diversity.
ABC 7 Sports on Twitter
Sean “Diddy” Combs and Stephen Curry have joined a bid with billionaire Michael Rubin to buy the Carolina #Panthers: https://t.co/8VU5QaAZqd
The team was valued by Forbes at $2.3 billion. An owner can then have up to 25 members in his ownership group.
When you are talking about capital and opportunity, there have been many qualified African-American candidates then and now, Willie Lanier, an NFL Hall of Fame linebacker and wealth management/venture capitalist expert told SB Nation back in July. Some of the strongest potential candidates over the last 20 years decided not to pursue this but would have if they had hindsight on the leagues growth in franchise value.
Neither Combs nor Curry have the money to consider being a majority owner. Forbes has Diddy valued at $820 million. Curry in 2017, according to the magazine, brought in $47.3 million in total earnings.
But we have to start somewhere and both offer the robust, celebrity diversity Rubin is looking for in partners.
