{"id":359591,"date":"2025-12-20T02:55:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-20T02:55:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/359591\/"},"modified":"2025-12-20T02:55:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-20T02:55:08","slug":"hoffmann-family-to-purchase-controlling-interest-in-pittsburgh-penguins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/359591\/","title":{"rendered":"Hoffmann Family to purchase controlling interest in Pittsburgh Penguins"},"content":{"rendered":"

PITTSBURGH \u2014 A family-owned, Chicago-based investment company has reached a \u201cdefinitive agreement\u201d to purchase a controlling interest in the\u00a0Pittsburgh Penguins<\/a>\u00a0from Fenway Sports Group.<\/p>\n

The Penguins announced Friday that Hoffmann Family of Companies and FSG have come to terms on a sale that would signal Hoffmann’s initial foray into major professional sports. Any purchase would need to be approved by the NHL\u2019s Board of Governors, though that is often merely a formality.<\/p>\n

The financial details of the agreement were not released, though the Penguins were valued at around $1.7 billion recently by Forbes.<\/p>\n

“Hockey has always been a meaningful part of our family\u2019s story, which makes this an incredibly special opportunity,\u201d Geoff Hoffmann, CEO of Hoffmann Family of Companies, said in a statement. \u201cWe\u2019ve long admired the Pittsburgh Penguins \u2014 not just for their championship legacy and history, but for the culture, passion, and loyalty that define the organization.<\/p>\n

The sale, if completed, would end FSG\u2019s brief run as stewards of the five-time Stanley Cup-winning franchise. FSG, which owns Major League Baseball\u2019s Boston Red Sox and Liverpool of the Premier League,\u00a0agreed to purchase the Penguins\u00a0from Ron Burkle and Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux in late 2021.<\/p>\n

The terms of that sale were not announced, though the team was valued at around $845 million by Sportico at that time.<\/p>\n

The Hoffmann Family, a private equity enterprise of more than 125 global brands that counts the ECHL\u2019s Florida Everblades among the many entities it runs, will pay considerably more than that to become the team\u2019s third owner in a half-decade.<\/p>\n

The Penguins said FSG will remain a minority shareholder for a period of time to continue its support in key business areas, including sponsorship sales and regional sports network management, as part of a phased transition.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom our earliest conversations, (the Hoffmanns) love of the sport and their commitment to doing things the right way made it clear they would be thoughtful stewards of the franchise, which is why we chose to seriously consider their interest,\u201d FSG CEO Sam Kennedy said in a statement. \u201cWe plan to work closely with them to ensure a smooth transition and to carry forward the momentum that\u2019s been built.\u201d<\/p>\n

The sale comes with the Penguins in a bit of a transitional period as the era defined by stars Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang nears its end. The trio \u2014 who are playing their 20th season as teammates \u2014 have guided the club to three Stanley Cups (2009, 2016 and 2017), though Pittsburgh has not reached the playoffs since 2022 and hasn\u2019t won a postseason series since 2018.<\/p>\n

The Penguins are in the midst of an overhaul orchestrated by general manager Kyle Dubas. They parted ways with\u00a0two-time Stanley Cup-winning coach Mike Sullivan last spring\u00a0and are off to a better-than-expected start under\u00a0first-year coach Dan Muse, though they are currently riding a seven-game losing streak.<\/p>\n

Attendance has dipped since the club\u2019s 633-game sellout streak ended in October 2021. The Penguins are currently playing to about 88% capacity this season at PPG Paints Arena, the third-lowest percentage in the league.<\/p>\n

What’s unclear is where Lemieux might fit in. The franchise icon’s role during FSG\u2019s tenure was nebulous, though he has been around more frequently of late as Crosby neared Lemieux\u2019s franchise points record.<\/p>\n

Crosby has 1,722 career points entering Saturday night’s game in Montreal, one shy of Lemieux\u2019s total of 1,723.<\/p>\n

Lemieux, who led the team to a pair of Stanley Cups in 1991 and 1992, remains beloved in Pittsburgh, where a statue of him sits outside one of the gates at PPG Paints Arena, which was built during his tenure as one of the club\u2019s majority owners.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PITTSBURGH \u2014 A family-owned, Chicago-based investment company has reached a \u201cdefinitive agreement\u201d to purchase a controlling interest in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":359592,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[556],"tags":[64,63,575,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-359591","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-nhl","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=359591"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359591\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/359592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=359591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=359591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=359591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}