Despite rampant trade talk of high-profile players and a draft class with three first-round picks, the story that generated the most hope among Pittsburgh Penguins fans has unquestionably been the possibility that Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle re-acquire the team from Fenway Sports Group.
Pittsburgh Hockey Now confirmed Lemieux’s interest in the possibility in May, though there has been little movement on the story other than the occasional update of interest.
Sunday, on Sportsnet’s mid-summer release of 32 Thoughts with Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas, Friedman reported that the Lemieux group remains short on necessary funds to buy the team.
“I can understand why Penguins fans would be excited about the possibility of Lemieux. He’s a god there. Everything he touches turns to gold, but everything I’ve heard about that is that they are well below what Fenway would want to be the number (to sell),” Friedman said.
You can listen to the latest 32 Thoughts episode here.
The league is believed to be asking for about $2 billion in expansion fees, and the Tampa Bay Lightning recently sold for $1.8 billion, which puts the Penguins’ value squarely in that range.
Burkle’s net worth, according to multiple published accounts, is just over $3 billion, and Lemieux’s is about $300 million, which would seemingly mean both men would need to convert a majority of their wealth to liquidity in order to acquire the team from FSG.
“I’ve got to think ($1.8 billion) is about where the Penguins would want to be, and from what I understand, (the Lemieux Group) isn’t close at this point in time,” said Friedman. “We’ll see where else it goes. That’s probably a story that doesn’t go away for a while.”
FSG bought the Penguins from the Lemieux Group in 2021 for a reported $900 million. The purchase also included the land around PPG Paints Arena, which FSG is developing into an entertainment district, with residential space, office space, and a concert venue. The Boston-based ownership group has repeatedly confirmed that they are seeking a minority investor but that the team is not for sale.
