A new potential suitor to buy the Pittsburgh Penguins has entered the fray.
The Chicago-based Hoffmann family, owners of the ECHL’s Florida Everblades, is reportedly exploring a purchase of the NHL franchise. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman named the family “serious contenders” in a piece published on Monday, though he noted that “no one should assume this is a done deal.”
David Hoffmann, founder and chair of Hoffmann Family Companies, plus his son and co-CEO Geoff aren’t the only group looking to purchase the Penguins. TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reported in June that former Penguins co-owner and team legend Mario Lemieux was part of a group looking to buy back the Pens after selling the team to Fenway Sports Group in 2021 for $900 million. Other investors in Lemieux’s group include his former co-owner Ron Burkle and former team CEO David Morehouse.
Alongside a controlling interest in the Penguins, Fenway Sports Group owns both the MLB’s Boston Red Sox and the Premier League’s Liverpool FC and has a stake in NASCAR team Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing. Valued at $14.9 billion by CNBC in July, the group is led by John Henry and added superstar NBA basketball player LeBron James as a partial owner in 2021.
Hoffmann has already garnered experience as an owner in professional hockey, albeit at the ECHL level. Since Hoffmann bought the Everblades from Carolina Hurricanes minority owner Peter Karmanos in 2019, the team has seen substantial success, winning three consecutive Kelly Cups from 2022-24 before falling in the semifinals last season. The franchise is now the ECHL affiliate of the St. Louis Blues.
“We’ve been looking to buy a professional sports team for probably three or four years,” Hoffmann told the Naples Daily News in 2019 after purchasing the Everblades. “We got close with an NBA team and we got close with an NHL team.”
Hoffmann didn’t specify which NBA and NHL teams he courted back then, but he could now have another opportunity to finish the job in Pittsburgh.
The Penguins were ranked as the NHL’s 17th-most valuable team in 2024, with CNBC valuating the club at $1.75 billion. Friedman reports the going price for the franchise will start there. Based on FSG’s $900 million purchase price in 2021, the group would stand to make at least an $850 million profit from the sale.
