Mario Lemieux was known for many on-ice miracles during his “Super Mario” days as a player. Now long retired, Lemieux and partner Ron Burkle are trying to achieve perhaps his greatest hockey feat yet.
Lemieux and Burkle, previously the Penguins’ majority owners and still minority partners in the NHL team, are making a heightened push to regain a controlling interest, according to multiple reports. Fenway Sports Group, which acquired the Penguins in late 2021 for $900 million, then a league record, and has been insistent about not wanting to sell, has said it is interested only in bringing in a “small, passive [minority] partner.” Lemieux and Burkle, however, remain undeterred, and are said to believe that FSG, also the owners of MLB’s Red Sox and the Premier League’s Liverpool FC, can perhaps be convinced regarding a bigger deal.
Also aiding Lemieux and Burkle is their prior record leading the Penguins compared to what FSG has done. Under the pair’s leadership, the Penguins won three Stanley Cups, adding to two Lemieux won as a player. FSG, conversely, has seen the team miss the postseason each of the last three seasons after losing in the first round in 2022, and three consecutive years of declining standings points totals.
The franchise has also seen its historically strong attendance and local television viewership ebb to one of the biggest declines in the NHL this past season.
Lemieux, meanwhile, claims strong relationships with many key figures in the situation, including NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and Penguins icon Sidney Crosby.
Any deal, should it happen, would certainly need to be for more than the $900 million that FSG paid nearly four years ago, but how much more remains a key question. Outside valuations of the time have pointed to a current mark of $1.75 billion.
Expansion Matters
According to The Athletic, potentially forthcoming NHL expansion is also part of the equation for Lemieux and Burkle. Despite the lack of a formal process, Bettman has said he will raise individual bids to the Board of Governors, should it be merited, and Atlanta and Houston, in particular, have shown strong and consistent interest in entering the league.
Expansion clubs, should they be approved, are due to sell for about $2 billion each, and getting to $4 billion for two clubs, divided by the 32 existing teams, would mean a $125 million windfall for each NHL franchise.
