Snoop Dogg - why Swansea and what next?

2 hours ago 1

Three images of Snoop Dogg, including one in a Swansea shirt, in front of the Swansea.com StadiumImage source, Getty Images/Swansea City AFC

Image caption,

Snoop Dogg is one of the famous rap artists in the world

Gareth Vincent

BBC Sport Wales

Three months after Luka Modric's surprise arrival has come the even more eye-catching news that Snoop Dogg is joining the Croatia legend as an investor and co-owner at Swansea City.

Which celebrity will be coming to our club next, Swansea fans might now be forgiven for wondering.

In the current climate, where clubs must find new ways to generate income and stars seem to be attracted to football, they probably should not rule anyone out.

Even if there are no more new faces, Swansea now have their share of glitz in the boardroom, where there was a major change last November following a takeover led by American businessmen Brett Cravatt and Jason Cohen.

We wait to see how much involvement Modric – who is known to have spoken to Swansea transfer targets in recent months – and Snoop Dogg – who, as far as we know, has not – will have in the running of the Welsh club.

One conversation that has taken place already was between Modric and Snoop Dogg, with the duo discussing the latter's potential involvement at Swansea before the deal was finalised.

Snoop Dogg, meanwhile, is understood to be planning a trip to the Swansea.com Stadium to watch a game.

Swansea believe the big names mean a better chance to achieve big things, which in their case means a return to the Premier League.

Should they make it, maybe Snoop Dogg will lead a singsong – Swansea's answer to the Anfield Rap, perhaps - on the open-top bus parade.

He would surely savour a promotion party given his love of sport.

Here BBC Sport looks at Snoop Dogg's sporting background and wonders what influence he might have on a Championship club from south west Wales.

Luka Modric at Real Madrid training Image source, Getty Images

Image caption,

Luka Modric, who joined AC Milan earlier this week after 13 years at Real Madrid, has spoken to Snoop Dogg about plans for Swansea

Sport and Snoop

Snoop Dogg made sporting headlines at last year's Olympic Games in Paris.

The 53-year-old hails from Los Angeles, which will host the 2028 Games, and was chosen as one of the torchbearers of the Olympic flame before the opening ceremony.

But the story did not end there, he became the United States' team's cheerleader in France.

Snoop Dogg's sporting side has long been in evidence. In his first TV appearance, on The Arsenio Hall Show in 1994, he wore a Toronto Maple Leafs shirt.

Team colours have since become something of a signature. Snoop Dogg has worn a string of shirts belonging to American and Canadian sporting sides and also those of football clubs around Europe.

AC Milan, Ajax, Chelsea, Barcelona, Arsenal, Burnley, Norwich City, Liverpool and Manchester United are among the shirts he has been pictured wearing.

Snoop Dogg wearing a Norwich shirt in 2015Image source, Getty Images

Image caption,

Snoop Dogg wore a Norwich shirt while performing in the city a decade ago

Snoop Dogg is not too concerned about club rivalries, it seems, which is handy given that he has also appeared in the colours of Cardiff City.

Presumably, he will not be doing that again any time soon given his new role at Swansea.

"For many years, I have been associated with soccer," Snoop Dogg says in a video released by Swansea this week.

"I have worn a lot of kits in my life, but now I am at the part of my life where I am trying to find a kit that fits."

Snoop Dogg has previously been linked with sports ownership, with talk of investment in Scottish giants Celtic, whose green-and-white shirt is another of the many he has donned.

Celtic's mascots are two hounds called Hoopy and Hailey.

In Swansea, meanwhile, Snoop Dogg will get the chance to get to know plenty of Jacks – the nickname for people from the city which many say comes from the story of the famous life-saving canine, Swansea Jack.

Perhaps Dogg, as Swansea chief executive Tom Gorringe called him this week, should feel at home on Swansea Bay.

Snoop Dogg has been linked with investment in sport before.

He was reportedly part of a failed bid to take over NHL side Ottawa Senators in 2023, while he also spoke enthusiastically about the idea of investing in Celtic last year.

Over the years, he has been mentioned as a supporter of a string of sporting sides in the US including the LA Dodgers, the LA Lakers and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Snoop founded the Snoop Youth Football League, which helps give youngsters opportunities to play American Football, where he is also involved as a coach – a story which is partially told in a Netflix documentary.

He has performed on the sporting stage, too, having been part of the Super Bowl LVI half-time show in 2022.

Snoop Dogg performing at the Super Bowl in 2022Image source, Getty Images

Image caption,

Snoop Dogg performed alongside the likes of Dr Dre, Eminem, Mary J Blige and Kendrick Lamar at the 2022 Super Bowl

Rivals to Wrexham?

Snoop Dogg's surprise introduction to followers of Swansea came with a reference to Wrexham, a club they will meet in the league in 2025-26 for the first time in 22 years.

Like quite a few clubs, Swansea have looked on with a little envy as Wrexham have made headlines around the planet – and progress on the pitch - since their takeover by Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney in 2021.

In a sense, Swansea are trying to follow their Welsh counterparts' lead by bringing Snoop Dogg and Modric on board.

There is no great history of rivalry between Swansea, whose issues are with Cardiff, and Wrexham – who are more concerned about Chester – but it may be one that develops.

The clubs appear to be doing their best to create some sort of friction, albeit playful, with Wrexham adding Darth to Swansea's name when announcing their Championship fixture list with a nod to Star Wars last month.

Swansea waited for an opportunity to respond, which came when Reynolds posted a picture of himself wearing Wrexham's new kit while holding a dog on social media last week.

Reynolds' caption about the shirt included the words "dog not included".

"Dogg included" declared a post on Swansea's social media channels, external alongside the first images of Snoop wearing their home shirt for the 2025-26 season.

Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds celebrate Wrexham's promotion to the Championship Image source, Getty Images

Image caption,

Wrexham have won three successive promotions with Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds at the helm

What will it mean?

Four days over his unexpected role in Swansea's kit launch came the news that Snoop Dogg is now part of the club's ownership group.

As with Modric, the Swans have not specified what stake Snoop Dogg has taken or how much money he has invested.

For his part, the Death Row Records owner has pledged "to do all I can" to help Swansea's cause having been introduced to the club's owners via a mutual connection, as was the case with Modric.

So what will Snoop Dogg bring to the table? Swansea say their new man has a "deep love of sport and football in particular", but we assume he will not have much say on the club's footballing operations.

What Swansea's hierarchy have made clear is that they believe Snoop Dogg's involvement will mean more eyes on the club, which will in turn lead to more income - and that is key to the whole story.

"It is hoped his global profile and love of football can play an important part in helping us spread the Swansea City name as far and wide as possible in order to boost our commercial performance to further support our aspirations as a club," the club said.

While his initial appearance in a Swansea shirt prompted some bemusement among the club's fans on social media, it seems that the majority have quickly grown to like the idea of Snoop Dogg becoming one of them.

"It's a little bit surreal isn't it, Snoop Dogg involved with Swansea, but you can't argue with the publicity it's going to bring," says Steven Carroll, editor of SOS fanzine and part of the Jackcast podcast.

"I just think it's good for the club. It will raise our profile. In this era of financial fair play where we have got to try to maximise revenue, having Snoop Dogg raising the profile and potentially raising a few quid for us from America, that won't do any harm at all."

Former Wales striker Iwan Roberts played for Watford in the day when they were owned by music star Sir Elton John.

Football has changed dramatically since those days, but Roberts believes Snoop Dogg's unexpected arrival "can only be good news for Swansea".

"You look at followers these famous people have on social media sites," Roberts says.

"Snoop Dogg has got more than 88m on Instagram and more than 20m on X.

"It's going to persuade the people who follow him to maybe support Swansea and bring some new followers through the gates at the Swansea.com Stadium. Maybe he'll do a concert there too!"

Snoop Dogg live in Swansea? A week ago, you would have said no chance. Now, it would not be that much of a surprise.

Read Entire Article