Legendary rock star Jon Bon Jovi is known in the sports world for helping to establish the Philadelphia Soul Arena Football team. Now, he is itching to become part of the NFL.
In the recent months, there have been talks of Bon Jovi exploring the opportunity to become a minority owner of the Atlanta Falcons. Bon Jovi confirmed those interests on Tuesday when he announced that he has been in negotiations with the team's majority owner Arthur Blank, ESPN.com reports.
"Since helping to establish the Philadelphia Soul Arena Football team — from its inception through our 2008 championship season — I have always made clear my desire to someday enter the NFL," Bon Jovi said through spokesperson Tiffany Shipp.
Sources say Bon Jovi would be providing $150 million for a 15% share in the Atlanta franchise.
For the time being, Bon Jovi's minority stake bid has been stalled, though the New Jersey rocker insists that he still has a great interest in the NFL venture.
"For someone of Jon Bon Jovi's stature, this is more a matter of lifestyle than economics," Chicago-based professional league sports consultant Marc Ganis told ESPN.
"Bon Jovi loves sports and he clearly loves football and the NFL," Ganis added. "He clearly has earned enough money in music and has royalties coming in where he doesn't have to work another day if he so pleased. But it's an opportunity to park some money in a place that brings him joy, in this case the NFL. He won't generate any returns on that money until there's a sale, so he builds equity financially and he's certainly not going to lose money."
With Bon Jovi's love of football and Blank recently trying to raise revenue for a new stadium, this deal has a very real future. Bon Jovi would not be the first celebrity owner of an NFL franchise, Jennifer Lopez, Marc Anthony and Fergie all have minority stakes in the Miami Dolphins' franchise.
