Reports: Fenway Sports Group to sell Penguins to Hoffmann family

Fenway Sports Group has agreed in principle to sell the Pittsburgh Penguins to the Chicago-based Hoffmann family, multiple media outlets reported on Wednesday.

The price for the club is expected to be between $1.7 and $1.8 billion, per reports.

The final sale of the club requires approval by the NHL's Board of Governors.

Fenway Sports Group, which owns the Boston Red Sox, Liverpool of the English Premier League and RFK Racing in NASCAR, purchased controlling interest of the Penguins from franchise icon Mario Lemieux, Ron Burkle and David Morehouse in 2021 for $900 million. Lemieux and Burkle initially bought the team out of bankruptcy in 1999.

The Hoffmann Family of Companies -- which is a multi-generational family-owned private equity firm -- has owned the Florida Everblades of the ECHL since 2019.

Per ESPN, the group has been in discussions with the Penguins since at least the summer.

David Hoffmann has previously expressed interest in purchasing an NHL or NBA team in an interview with the Naples Daily News.

The Penguins have won five Stanley Cups, including three in the Sidney Crosby era (2009, 2016, 2017), and are valued by Forbes at $1.75 billion.

Per Sportico in October, the average NHL franchise is worth an estimated $2.1 billion.

--Field Level Media