Snoop Dogg teams with Real Madrid legend to buy French soccer club

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FT Desk

Snoop Dogg is looking to expand his football ownership empire by joining a consortium to purchase French side Nantes.

In July of 2025, the rap legend became a minority shareholder and co-owner of Swansea City, marking his first move into football club ownership.

At the time, he spoke about his long-standing passion for the sport and explained why Swansea was the right club for him. He said the club’s history and its connection to the local community particularly appealed to him, describing Swansea as a proud, working-class city with an underdog spirit that he could identify with.

The deal was facilitated by Swansea’s American owners, Brett Cravatt and Jason Cohen, who brought the rapper into the club’s ownership group.

Fast-forward over a year, and Snoop is set to invest again, partnering with Real Madrid legend Marcelo and Phenix Sports Invest to buy Nantes.

The deal includes an initial investment of approximately $117 million with additional bonuses potentially taking the total value to $146 million on the caveat that Nantes manage to secure a return to Ligue 1 after being relegated at the end of last season.

AS reports that Snoop Dogg and Marcelo have been recruited to help raise the club's profile.

Authorisation for the takeover needs to be made by France’s Direction Nationale du Controle de Gestion as Phenix Sports Invest look to buy from the Kita family, who have proved unpopular with the club's fanbase since they first took ownership in 2007.

French football expert Robin Bairner explains:

"Nantes are historically one of the biggest teams in France, but in recent years they have fallen on hard times have bounced between the top two leagues, much to the frustration of their support. This was underlined on the final day of the 2025/26 season, when their final match of the season was abandoned following crowd disturbances in a sorry but predictable end to their latest run in the top flight.

"The beginning of the 2026/27 season has hit a new low, however. The controversial appointment of Michel Der Zakarian as head coach failed, and the veteran has already been sacked to make way for Gregory Poirier. Meanwhile, the team sits 15th in the second tier, looking likelier to face another relegation battle than bounce back immediately, as was the expectation.

"Nantes remains a club with a large fanbase and significant potential, but with the current ownership no longer trusted to make the right strategic calls or invest enough money to allow them to remain competitive, change feels long overdue and will be welcomed by the vast majority of supporters."

Celebrity owners are nothing new in football these days as the world watches on in awe at Wrexham's rise under the stewardship of Hollywood superstars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo also recently made significant investments in clubs in Spain, while the likes of Roberto Carlos, Ronaldo, Gerard Pique, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, N’Golo Kante, Didier Drogba, David Beckham, Kylian Mbappe and Thierry Henry also have shares in various clubs around the globe.

Snoop is an unlikely supporter of Scottish champions Celtic and has been spotted on numerous occasions wearing the club's famous green and white hoops.

He previously revealed a desire to one day open up a burger van at Celtic Park and even serve the fans himself, telling the Sunday Mail:

"I would love to bring a pop-up burger [van] to a sports stadium to show fans that food at stadiums can be good.

"It's got to be Celtic Park, man. The secret to a good burger is the love in the preparation. The ground beef has got to be mixed with some secret spices, then add a good quality cheese and some maple-cured bacon.

"The Celtic fans are gonna love it, and to make sure they are just right, Snoop is going to be serving them himself."