June 11, 2025<\/a><\/p>\nSince reports surfaced earlier this year that the team was on the block, FSG has stated that it isn\u2019t interested in selling the Penguins.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve seen the speculation, and as we\u2019ve previously shared with media, Fenway Sports Group is currently engaged in a process to explore a potential minority investment in the Pittsburgh Penguins,\u201d an FSG spokesperson said in a statement. \u201cThe focus is on identifying a small, passive partner, and that is the current framework under discussion with potential investors.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still, the source said on Monday, the Lemieux group is continuing to consider its financial options and pondering avenues that could see it take control of the Penguins again at some point.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe it will happen, maybe it won\u2019t,\u201d the source said. \u201cBut they\u2019re interested. They\u2019re very interested. And they\u2019re trying to make it happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to sources close to Lemieux and Burkle, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has been made aware of the group\u2019s interest in rejoining the Penguins in an ownership capacity.<\/p>\n
News that Lemieux is interested in once again owning the Penguins sent shockwaves through Pittsburgh last month. He\u2019s not only the greatest athlete in Penguins history but also perhaps more synonymous with the franchise than any athlete has ever been with any franchise.<\/p>\n
Lemieux, who led the Penguins to two championships as a player and three more as an owner, still resides and spends most of his time in Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n
Since selling most of his stake in the team, the notoriously private 59-year-old Lemieux has mostly stayed out of the public eye. He golfs in Florida when he feels like it and spends time with his friends and grandchildren.<\/p>\n
While undeniably the best player in hockey, Lemieux retired at age 31 in 1997. After purchasing the team in 1999, news broke on Dec. 7, 2000 that he had the itch to play again, some 1,321 days after he had initially walked away from the game.<\/p>\n
Lemieux and Burkle agreed to sell the Penguins 1,323 days ago.<\/p>\n
Perhaps Lemieux misses the game.<\/p>\n
Franchise valuations have skyrocketed in the time since Lemieux and Burkle stepped away.<\/p>\n
In their most recent rankings, Sportico valued the Penguins at $1.47 billion while Forbes estimated the team\u2019s value at $1.75 billion.<\/p>\n
The NHL\u2019s expansion fee \u2014 $650 million when the Seattle Kraken joined the league in 2021 \u2014 is now reported to be at least $2 billion.<\/p>\n
Re-investing in the Penguins could be a costly endeavor.<\/p>\n
Pittsburgh has failed to reach the playoffs in three consecutive seasons.<\/p>\n
The Penguins sold just 91.4 percent of their available tickets during the 2024-25 season, the lowest mark of the Sidney Crosby era. They had not played with that percentage of empty seats since 2004, the year before Crosby arrived in Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n
According to the source, the Lemieux-Burkle group anticipates that the NHL is going to add two expansion teams at some point in the next few years, which would produce a financial windfall for all of the NHL\u2019s teams.<\/p>\n
(Photo of Mario Lemieux: Charles LeClaire \/ USA Today)<\/p>\n