News like a bolt from the blue on a Monday afternoon..
From Friedman:
There is a new name to watch regarding the potential sale of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Chicago-based Hoffmann family, owners of the ECHL’s Florida Everblades, has emerged as a serious contender to purchase the NHL team from Fenway Sports Group.
David Hoffmann, founder and chairman of the Hoffmann Family of Companies, bought the Everblades from former Carolina Hurricanes owner Peter Karmanos in 2019. He told
the Naples Daily News at the time that he’d looked into buying both NHL and NBA teams.
The Everblades won three Kelly Cups in a row from 2022-24 before losing in the championship semifinals this season.
David’s son, Geoff, the company’s co-CEO, is also expected to be involved in the purchase.
Geoff Hoffmann and wife Megan have four boys, one of whom has type 1 diabetes. They created a hockey camp for children with that specific condition, which has been held at the ECHL team’s arena.
There is still work to do, so no one should assume this is a done deal. The sale price, should it close, is expected to be in the $1.75 billion range. Fenway bought the Penguins for approximately $900 million in November 2021.
It was previously reported that Fenway was looking to sell a minority stake in the Penguins, but considering they could about double their investment in a four-year span, perhaps they are shifting more towards getting out of the hockey business with such a great return.
The previous ownership group of Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle were reportedly also interested in re-purchasing the Pens, but the value of the franchise has increased so much since they got out that it might be cost-prohibitive a property for them to jump back into these days.
Whatever may happen, there has been a lot of smoke swirling around about a potential full or partial sale of the Pens. As Friedman said, nothing has been announced as a done deal just yet, but there certainly has been a lot of active talk about who the future stewards of the team might be.
