The Pittsburgh Penguins will officially be under new ownership, perhaps as soon as Wednesday, as the Hoffmann Family of Companies has been approved to purchase control of the team from Fenway Sports Group following a unanimous vote from the NHL Board of Governors on Tuesday afternoon.
The Hoffmann Family is expected to take over from Fenway Sports Group 24 to 72 hours after the vote is complete, The Athletic’s Josh Yohe adds.
Geoff Hoffmann, CEO of the group’s private equity arm, will serve as governor.
Greg Hoffmann, CEO of the firm’s real estate arm; general manager Kyle Dubas; and David Hoffmann, founder and chairman of the firm, will each serve as alternate governors, according to a press release provided by the team.
“This is a defining moment for our family,” said Geoff Hoffmann. “The Penguins represent everything Hoffmann Family of Companies stands for — community, excellence and long-term thinking. We look forward to building on the team’s success by providing support and resources to both Kyle Dubas and the hockey operations team, as well as the established leadership group on the business side. We’re proud to represent this storied franchise and are eager to become an active, invested part of the Pittsburgh community.”
As the sale clears its final hurdles, the Penguins will be under new management for the second time since 2021, following the Lemieux Group’s sale to Fenway for some $900 million in December that year.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported in December 2025 that the Penguins were valued at $1.7 billion when the potential sale to the Hoffmann family first became public, positioning FSG to nearly double its return on the team’s purchase.
The Hoffmann group is believed to have shallower pockets than the massive conglomerate that is Fenway Sports Group, but in other reporting leading up to the transaction closing, including that done by Yohe, there is a sense of cautious optimism with the Hoffmanns taking the helm.
Fenway’s checkbook has essentially allowed the Penguins to spend as they please, and FSG did make some well-received improvements to PPG Paints Arena, but it’s become an open secret in Penguins circles that Mario Lemieux developed a frosty relationship with the Boston-based ownership group, staying away from PPG Paints Arena for some time before finally making more regular appearances in recent months.
One would assume that if the Hoffmann Family wants to start their ownership on the front foot, they would work to embrace Lemieux as the franchise’s greatest-ever player and the revered figure he’s become within the city.
Lemieux, who also reportedly showed interest in re-acquiring the Penguins before the team was officially sold to the Hoffmann Family, will retain his minority share through the transaction, NHL insider Frank Seravalli reported in December, adding that Lemieux “could be open to a larger presence around the team under new majority ownership.”
The Hoffmann Family is now poised to take control of a franchise entering a period of significant transition as the Crosby era nears its end.
Only time will tell how successful and how involved this new ownership group will be.
