Just months into his retirement after 16 NBA seasons, former Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade has different options to consider how he spends his time in the years ahead.
One new video indicates that such activity could involve him co-owning an NFL team with Miami rap artist Rick Ross.
In the debut episode of GQ Sports’ “One on One,” Wade and Ross discuss a variety of topics, with the NFL discussion coming near the end (49:30) of the 51-minute video.
“Let’s say the opportunity presented itself,” Ross said to Wade, “and we had the opportunity to buy ourselves an NFL team. Is that something we move forward on, or don’t?”
“I move forward on it,” Wade said. “I move forward on it. 100 percent”
“I’m glad,” responded Ross, who then shook hands with Wade. “I’m glad. ‘Cause I damn sure didn’t want to have to finance everything without you.”
“That’s exactly why I move forward on it, right?” Wade asked. “I go in with, ‘Hey, if I’m gonna do this, I need this opened up for others.’ I don’t want to be the only one at the table. I never want to be the only one eating well. I want other people at the table, so I can have a great conversation with everybody and everybody doing well.
“So for me, if that opportunity ever presents itself, I would do it, but I need the ability to be able to bring some others with me, so once we get in there, whatever change, whatever we’ve been talking about, we can do it together. We can create this, we’re stronger in numbers than we are by ourselves, so that’s the only way I would do it. But I would love to.”
Of course, which NFL team they would be in position to buy is unknown. However, regardless of the franchise, the minimum purchase price would likely be around $1 billion, a steep amount even for individuals with plenty of money like Wade and Ross.
One of the reasons that the price is so high is because owning a team virtually guarantees a healthy annual profit for each owner. That stems from the massive broadcasting contracts that continue to rise each year, coupled with the NFL having a salary cap in place and countless other revenue streams.
Most Heat fans would undoubtedly love to have Wade and Ross take over the Miami Dolphins, especially after the team’s disastrous opening game on Sunday. Yet regardless of what team the duo might conceivably take over, their presence would break new ground in NFL ownership circles.
