David Letterman is no stranger to sports ownership. He’s been a successful IndyCar owner along with Bobby Rahal for decades and for a brief time was a minority owner of the Seattle Mariners. But this week Letterman said on his YouTube Channel that he’s bought another sports team – the South Sydney Rabbitohs of the National Rugby League in Australia.
For the record, the Rabbitohs are currently owned in part by another very famous celebrity – Russell Crowe. But here’s Letterman, on his YouTube channel, saying he’s purchased the Rabbitohs… along with Billy Crystal… so they could do their own docuseries that emulates Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney’s success with Welcome to Wrexham.
It sure seems like it’s satire, but Letterman is definitely committed to the bit by talking about the history of ‘Rabbitohs’ as door-to-door rabbit salesmen in Sydney and wearing a South Sydney shirt. And to be honest, who WOULDN’T want to purchase a team that takes their nickname from door-to-door rabbit salesman.
The Rabbitohs are actually playing a game in Las Vegas soon as the NRL will open their season with a doubleheader on American soil for the first time next month.
But before you get too excited, it seems like this (whatever it actually is) is indeed a comedy bit. For the record, the Daily Telegraph in Australia is calling it a ‘hoax‘ but also saying that the team is benefitting from the publicity around the absurdity of Letterman and Crystal purchasing the team. And one Australian journalist, Jelisa Apps, reports the team says Letterman is just a fan of the club at this point and hasn’t purchased the Rabbitohs.
Did David @Letterman buy into the @SSFCRABBITOHS?!? He says he now owns the side and is making a documentary on the team.
It’s an exciting thought… But not quite the case 😂 The club says he is just fan who will hopefully be there in Vegas.
It’s catching on…. #nrl pic.twitter.com/YvaZwMtf9e
— Jelisa Apps (@JelisaApps) January 26, 2024
Even if this is just comedy, let’s be honest, you now really want to see a docuseries about David Letterman and Billy Crystal owning an Australian rugby team now, right? And educating the world about Rabbitohs. If we could only get Jay Leno to purchase the St. George Illawarra Dragons then we’d really be on to something.
[The Desk]
