With Or Without Diddy, Curry Wants Stake In Panther's

Today in Tha Wire they get an "A" for effort in trying to bring more melanin to the owners side of the NFL, but it looks like their bid for ownership's not going to happen. Looks like the bidding partnership between Charlotte native, Steph Curry a longtime Panthers fan and Sean Diddy Combs fell through. BET reports Curry and, the Bad Boy CEO, teamed up with Fanatics billionaire Michael Rubin to purchase the Carolina Panthers. Rubin would've been the majority owner of the team, but pulled out of the bidding war, when the price for the team went up.

It's no secret that Diddy's been a longtime Panther fan, and wanted to buy the team. The music legend took to IG and made it known, he not only wanted the team, but was eager to become the first minority NFL owner.

Rubin said he was done, adding "the price is just to damn high!" Not sure if Diddy was re-up with someone else, but Steph has no plans on giving up. However, the NBA baller has to align with a team of investors. While he works on that, the value of professional teams has changed quite a bit, in a very short amount of time too. The new owner of the Houston Rockets, multi-billionaire Tilman Fertitta, may be inadvertently the reason. Even though that's an NBA team, when Fertitta bought the Rockets for a record $2.2 billion, that price point set the bar for all pro teams being sold going forward.

The Chicago Tribune reports up till now, the highest price paid for an NFL team was $1.4 billion when the Buffalo Bills were sold in 2014. My how things have changed in a couple of years. According to Forbes the Dallas Cowboys is among the most valuable teams in the world. In 2017, the team was valued at whopping $4.8 billion. While we're at it, the New Orleans Saints currently valued at an estimated $2 billion. However, that price may change, with the recent death of the teams owner Tom Benson.

New Orleans Pelicans in 2012. Courtesy of

NOLA.com, below is footage of Benson's home going, and Second-Line funeral procession. The businessman, philanthropist and sports franchise owner was hospitalized on February 16, 2018 with the flu, and sadly never recovered. He passed away, Thursday March 15, 2018 at the age of 90.

May he rest in eternal peace, and we certainly offer our condolences to his family and friends. As far as Panthers owner/founder, Jerry Richardson, selling off his beloved team. Sports Illustrated reports the 81-yr old's decision was more than likely motivated by the onset of his legal scandal. Richardson is currently accused of racial slurs, workforce misconduct, and sexual harassment and more.

The bad press and possible charges is obviously detrimental to the teams image, naming rights and reputation. As expected, Richardson announced that he was selling the team at the end of their 2017 season.

No matter what, the Panther's are going to the highest bidder. The Charlotte Observer reported even though Diddy and Rubin pulled out of buying the game, Steph Curry still wants a stake in his hometown team. Curry's been sidelined due to an ankle injury, and is expected to miss several games. At practice last week, he told reporters he's not giving up and “Trying to figure out the right moves and the right partners.” The NBA superstar didn't disclose who he had in mind but, made it clear that he's not out of the running. Curry added, “You’ll hear stuff when I’m ready to make that be known all the way around, but it’s still ongoing.”

Meanwhile, The Chicago Tribune reported three other bidders remain. Last year Forbes valued the Panthers net worth at $2.3 billion. Though the bidding process is supposed to be confidential, sources are saying Richardson hiked the price tag up to 2.5 billion. Good luck Steph! We'll see how this goes. Word has it, the team could sell by the end of the month.

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