Mario Lemieux's bid to buy Penguins back is well below estimated asking price, per report
Fenway Sports Group is reportedly looking for a bigger payday
By
Bryan DeArdo
•
1 min read
Mario Lemieux's ownership group is apparently going to have to write a bigger check if it is going to buy back the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Lemieux-led ownership group's initial bid to purchase the team from Fenway Sports Group is well below what FSG would consider selling for, according to Sportsnet NHL insider Elliotte Friedman.
Earlier this summer, it was reported that an ownership group led by Lemieux, fellow former Penguins co-owner Ron Burkle and former chief executive Dave Morehouse were "very interested" in buying back the Penguins from FSG, who purchased the team from Lemieux's group in 2021 for just under $1 billion.
Last month, DK Pittsburgh Sports reported that Lemieux's group was prepared to pay somewhere in the $1 billion range for the Penguins, who's worth was recently valued by Forbes at $1.75 billion. It's reasonable to think that FSG is using the recent sale of the Tampa Bay Lightning as a barometer. The Lightning recently sold for $1.8 billion.
At this point, there is no reason that FSG would rush to get something done, so this is a story that could drag on for the foreseeable future. It's safe to say, however, that Penguins fans are excited with the possibility of Lemieux rejoining the franchise sometime relatively soon.
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Lemieux, 59, is without question the most iconic figure franchise history. He captained the Penguins to back-to-back titles in the early 1990s and was in the owner's suite when Pittsburgh won its three most recent Stanley Cups in 2009, 2016 and in 2017.
The Penguins haven't enjoyed the same success under FSG's ownership. After making the playoffs each year from 2007-22, Pittsburgh has failed to qualify for the postseason each of the last three years. The Penguins' 80 points last season represented the franchise's lowest single-season point tally for an 82-game season since 2005-06, which was Lemieux's final season as a player and future Hall of Famer Sidney Crosby's first.
