Ryan Castro Becomes First Colombian Artist To Own a Basketball Team
Courtesy of Ryan Castro
Ryan Castro is expanding his empire. On January 14, the Colombian artist revealed that he bought an equity stake in the Paisas Basketball club of Medellín, Colombia, via his company AWOO Team. The move makes the reggaeton singer the first Colombian artist to own a basketball team.
“From a business standpoint, I am proud to support my hometown team to push basketball in Colombia, give it more exposure and motivate the youth to dream big,” Castro said in a press release. “Many dream of succeeding through sports, and my goal is to inspire them to work for their dreams, just as I did with music.”
The Paisas Basketball club will make its debut in the Basketball Champions Leave Americas (BCLA), which is the premier men’s basketball league in the Americas. The league features top teams from across the continent. The website describes the team as the “one and only Professional Basketball team playing under the FCB Basketball League in Medellín, Colombia.” The basketball team is also known as the “Academia De La Montaña.”
“I love basketball. Every time I go to the U.S., I like to go to NBA games,” Castro told Billboard about the business move. “So, it all came together and the opportunity arose to support a team from my city to continue growing the basketball movement, generate more activity and support young people who are into sports.”
Ryan Castro now joins other artists like Bad Bunny and Blessd who own sport-related businesses. Beyond sports, Castro also released his newest single “NI X EL PUTXS” alongside Colombian trap artist Kris R. Last month, he also released a cumbia holiday collaboration with Juanes called “El Chucu Chucu.”