It’s been a slow trickle of news and development in the story about the potential sale of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Last out there was that the Hoffman family’s exclusive window had expired, but it appears
they and Fenway Sports kept grinding to reach a deal and reportedly now have one.
FSG bought the Penguins from the Lemieux Group in a $900 million transaction that came about at the end of 2021. Now about four years later, it looks like FSG is flipping the Pens for what should be a massive windfall. NHL franchise values have skyrocketed lately and they should be the beneficiaries of the timing.
That timing was bad news for the reported interest that Mario Lemieux had in an attempt made to buy back into the Pens franchise. The value has about doubled since he sold, leaving the opportunity tight to get back. It remains unknown how or if the Hoffman’s will incorporate Lemieux, who has had a strained and limited relationship with FSG in recent years.
As far at the fan impact of this sale, that remains to be seen. FSG was never fully welcomed or embraced having taken over from the legendary Lemieux, though they did pump in a large amount of money to renovate areas of PPG Paints Arena and invested heavily to bring Kyle Dubas on board and give him a large budget to expand the franchise’s off ice and managerial levels. Should the Hoffman’s continue to allow a wide berth to Dubas and the hockey operations folks to continue a move like this might not be a seismic change for fans and consumers. One area to watch will be the potential transfer of Pittsburgh’s regional sports channel, currently owned and operated by FSG and branded as Sportsnet Pittsburgh. Past reports indicated a sale of the team would include the channel.
More details will certainly be coming in the future about this transaction and what changes might be in store for the team as it picks up a third different owner in this decade.
