Ryan Reynolds is NOT buying the Ottawa Senators

According to a report from ESPN reporter Emily Kaplan, the Toronto-based investment group led by Hollywood actor Ryan Reynolds is NOT pursuing its bid to purchase the Ottawa Senators.

Reynolds has been public about his interest in buying the team but has dropped out of the running as it appears that there's a bit of a celebrity bidding war for the relatively small market Canadian franchise. Rapper Snoop Dogg is part of a group led by LA based investor Neko Sparks, while The Weeknd is part of a bid by Toronto billionaires Jeff and Michael Kimel.

The team is valued at $800 million but it's believed that bids could be worth more than $1 billion.

"[Reynolds] very much impressed us," Bettman said at the NHL's board of governors meetings back in December, 2022. "If we can figure out a way to have him included, I think that would be great for the Senators and great for the league. ... He's very smart, 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 was well over 100 million."

"I am trying to [buy the team]; it's very expensive, so I need a partner with really deep pockets," Reynolds told the public on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. "It's called a consortium, when you form a group to buy an entity, and it's such a fancy way of saying, 'I need a sugar mommy or a sugar daddy,' and if that doesn't happen, I'll buy a U.S. senator, which everyone can afford."

Reynolds, a Canadian citizen, lived in Ottawa's Vanier neighbourhood during part of his youth.