Hip-hop legend Snoop Dogg has thrown his name into the hat of becoming the latest US celebrity interested in acquiring a stake in a UK football club, with Celtic Football Club drawing his attention.
Snoop Dogg has noticed the success of Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney’s ownership of AFC Wrexham and according to the Daily Record, the global music artist is interested in investing in the 54 time Scottish League champions.
In an interview with the Sunday Mail, Snoop Dogg said: “I love what Ryan has done with Wrexham, it’s just a great story.
“Investing in a sports team has been something I have been looking at for a long time, if the chance came to invest in Celtic, I would be crazy not to take a look at it. I have watched so much soccer in Europe but I have never seen fans like the Celtic fans. There is something so special about them.”
The California native rapper has been seen wearing Celtic jerseys since 2006 and has admitted he is a supporter of the club, citing the club’s passionate fans on matchday at Celtic Park.
He said: “There is a reason why their fans are talked about across Europe, the best players and coaches in the world tell you there is nowhere like Celtic Park and I want to be a part of that.
“Their mascot is a hound – you couldn’t make that up. Snoop Dogg becomes Hoopy the Hound, that’s gotta be a match made in heaven. The headlines write themselves.”
Snoop Dogg reportedly has a net worth of $160m being an early investor in successful companies such as Reddit, Robinhood and Klarna.
Celtic’s ownership structure is made up of several shareholders, with Dermot Desmond having a majority stake with 34.7%.
Desmond is one of 10 shareholders in the club, with Chris Trainer owning 10.9%, James Mark Keane 6.25%, Lindsell Train 5.7% and Tom Allison 3.5% to name a few.
There have been no reported suggestions that any of the current Celtic shareholders are looking to sell their shares in the club, but bringing onboard an internationally recognised figure such as Snoop Dogg could significantly bolster the club’s commercial growth.
Reynolds and McElhenney have been able to bolster Wrexham’s growth through various sponsorship and marketing initiatives, such as the Amazon Prime docuseries ‘Welcome to Wrexham’, as well as inking high-profile shirt sponsorships with TikTok and United Airlines.
The success happening in Wrexham has seen a flurry of US investors recognising the profitability in owning a share in lower league clubs in the UK. New York rapper A$AP Rocky was the latest to show interest, reportedly a part of a consortium to help acquire Tranmere Rovers in a reported £15m deal.
Any potential Snoop Dogg share sale would have to be approved by the club’s Board of Directors. There has been no reported figures of how much the music mogul is intending to acquire.