Rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs and Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry have joined e-commerce billionaire Michael Rubin in a group of investors seeking to buy the NFL’s Carolina Panthers, a report says.
Rubin, who organized the group of potential buyers, made his effort public last weekend saying that his goal was to bring minority owners into the National Football League, according to ESPN.
Owner of the sports apparel retailer Fanatics, Rubin notified the NFL about his intention to bid on the team on March 11 via a formal letter as required by league rules.
There are two other bidders, ESPN noted, including “hedge fund billionaire David Tepper and Ben Navarro, the Charleston, South Carolina-based founder and CEO of Sherman Financial Group.”
With a net worth of $3 billion, Rubin already has a stake in several pro sports teams. He owns a slice of the basketball’s Philadelphia 76ers, he is invested in the NHL’s New Jersey Devils and is also a member of the ownership team of the Premier League’s Crystal Palace. Rubin would be required to put down 30 percent of the final price tag to become the majority owner of the Panthers.
Currently, the Panthers has an estimated value of $2.3 billion, but the bidding will determine the actual price.
Sean Combs had expressed his interest in becoming an NFL owner at least as far back as December when he took to Twitter to tell fans of his interest.
Combs quickly found support from the Warriors’ Steph Curry who replied via Twitter “I want in!”
Combs also found a voice of support from former NFL player and national anthem protest inventor Colin Kaepernick.
Speaking of Kaepernick, Combs openly said that one of the reasons he wanted to become an NFL owner was so that he could hire Kaepernick and get him back in the NFL.
After his tweet announcing an interest in joining the ranks of NFL owners, Combs said, “I will immediately address the Colin Kaepernick situation and put him in the running for next year’s starting quarterback. It’s just competition, baby. It’s just competition.”
Steph Curry is also a big fan of Kaepernick. In February, for instance, Curry donated $10,000 to help Kaepernick fulfill his promise to spend $1 million on social justice charities. Curry has been vocal about supporting the former quarterback’s causes and joined the Twitter hashtag effort to “#freekap” to urge the NFL to sign the player last year.
The Golden State Warrior also defended Kaepernick in a September interview with with Sara Eisen of CNBC-TV where he said, “There’s going to be people that disagree with him, there’s going to be people that agree with him, which is what I think our country stands for, which hopefully will drive the conversation to bettering the equal rights and treatment of African-Americans and people of color.”
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.
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