Canadian Olympic sprinter Donovan Bailey joins Neko Sparks bid to buy Senators

Former Canadian Olympic sprinter Donovan Bailey is joining the bid led by Los Angeles-based producer Neko Sparks to buy the NHL’s Ottawa Senators, the 55-year-old announced on Twitter.

Bailey won gold medals in the men’s 100-metre dash and the 4×100-metre relay at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.

He joins rapper Snoop Dogg on the list of high-profile names to join Sparks’s bid, which is aiming to be the first Black-led ownership group in the NHL.

On Wednesday, Quebec First Nation community Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg confirmed it was endorsing Sparks’s bid. The community has a land claim on LeBreton Flats, one of the locations where the Senators are considering building a new arena.

The board of directors of Senators Sports & Entertainment announced in November that a process had been initiated to sell the club. Monday was the deadline to submit bids to purchase the team, of which there are reportedly four.

Senators owner Eugene Melnyk died March 28, 2022, at age 62 after battling an illness. He left the team to his daughters, Anna and Olivia.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 19, 2023.