Jay-Z is reportedly set to acquire a “significant ownership stake” in an NFL team after previously announcing a partnership deal with the football league.
Only days after he confirmed a partnership with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, TMZ claims that the rap icon will become a part-owner of an NFL team in the near future.
According to the US site, Jay-Z’s acquisition is “going to happen in the near future”, although it’s unclear which team he will take a stake in.
While the rapper’s representatives have declined to comment, it comes after it was announced that Jay-Z’s Roc Nation will now serve as N.F.L.’s “live music entertainment strategists”. It will see them acting as consultants on the league’s performances – including the famed Super Bowl halftime show.
When he announced the deal with Goodall at a press conference, Jay-Z was asked by reporters if it would put him at odds with Colin Kaepernick – who was exiled from the league after taking a knee during the National Anthem to protest racial inequality and police brutality in the U.S.
Both Jay-Z and Goodell said that they both have had conversations with Kaepernick, but declined to reveal any details about it.
“I would never tell you what me and Kap’s private conversation was about,” Jay said, “but we spoke, yeah.”
Speaking to The New York Times, Jay-Z said: “The N.F.L. has a great big platform, and it has to be all-inclusive…They were willing to do some things, to make some changes, that we can do some good.”
Roger Goodell, the commissioner of the N.F.L., said the league wants partners that hold it to account and not necessarily ones that agree with them.
Goodell told the New York Times: “We don’t want people to come in and necessarily agree with us; we want people to come in and tell us what we can do better. I think that’s a core element of our relationship between the two organisations, and with Jay and I personally.”