The NHL Board of Governors voted unanimously Tuesday to approve the sale of the Pittsburgh Penguins to the Hoffmann family for $1.7 billion, ending Fenway Sports Group's four-year run with the franchise and marking the league's second-largest transaction behind only the Ottawa Senators' $950 million USD sale in 2023, which translated to roughly $1.3 billion CAD at close. The Hoffmanns—who built their fortune operating Mackinac Island ferry services in Michigan—already own the ECHL's Florida Everblades, a club they acquired in 2019 for an undisclosed sum and have run profitably in a market with minimal local competition.
FSG purchased the Penguins in 2021 for $900 million from Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle, a deal that valued the club at roughly 4.5x trailing revenue. The 89% markup in four years reflects broader franchise appreciation across North American sports—the Senators, Suns, and Commanders all changed hands above $4 billion in the past 24 months—but also FSG's strategic pivot away from hockey. The Boston-based group now holds Liverpool, the Red Sox, and a portfolio of venue and media assets, none of which require the salary-cap navigation or revenue-sharing calculations that distinguish NHL economics from English football's uncapped model. FSG retains a minority stake in the Penguins under the new structure, a carve-out that preserves upside if the franchise value continues tracking toward $2 billion by the next U.S. media-rights cycle in 2028.
The Hoffmann family enters NHL ownership with a balance sheet built on transportation infrastructure and a hands-on operating philosophy visible in the Everblades' run of five Kelly Cup appearances since 2019, including three championships. Everblades average attendance runs near 6,800 per game in a 7,200-seat building, a 94% capacity rate that outperforms several AHL clubs in larger markets. The family has signaled no immediate front-office overhaul in Pittsburgh, where president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas is 18 months into a roster rebuild around Sidney Crosby's final contract years. Crosby's $8.7 million cap hit runs through 2026-27, the same summer Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang both reach unrestricted free agency at ages 40 and 39, respectively. The Hoffmanns inherit a payroll near the $88 million cap ceiling and a prospect pool ranked 27th by most third-party evaluators, constraints that will test whether ferry-and-ECHL operational discipline translates to contention-window management.
The valuation also carries implications for the six remaining NHL clubs still held by ownership groups assembled before 2015: the Flyers, Sabres, Islanders, Blue Jackets, Coyotes, and Jets. Pittsburgh's $1.7 billion price sets a floor for similarly situated franchises in non-sunbelt markets with aging arenas, and it arrived without the distressed-sale discount that shaped Arizona's $1.2 billion move to Salt Lake City or Ottawa's bankruptcy-adjacent process. The Penguins generated roughly $290 million in revenue last season, per Forbes, implying a 5.9x revenue multiple—rich by historical NHL standards but within range of recent NBA deals, where the Suns and Mavericks both cleared 6x trailing revenue. Family offices and private-equity platforms have spent the past 18 months running quiet diligence on NHL assets, and the Hoffmann close provides a pricing benchmark for those conversations.
Watch for the Hoffmanns' first public comments on PPG Paints Arena, a 19-year-old building with a naming-rights deal that expires in 2027. The arena is owned by the Sports & Exhibition Authority of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County, a structure that limits the family's ability to capture non-hockey events revenue but also insulates them from capital calls for renovations. The Everblades operate out of Hertz Arena in Estero, Florida, a privately held venue the family does not own, so the Penguins' public-private lease represents a new operating layer. Expect hiring moves in sponsorship and premium seating before the 2025-26 season, particularly if Dubas holds the playoff line this spring and Crosby signals interest in a short-term extension. The family's ECHL tenure suggests they prefer known operators over splashy hires—the Everblades' general manager has been in place since 2017—but the NHL's sponsor and media ecosystem will demand a larger front-office footprint than a 7,200-seat rink in Southwest Florida required.
FSG's minority stake keeps them in the syndicate if the NHL expands or if franchise values spike again on the next national broadcast renewal. The 2028 U.S. rights deal is already drawing early interest from Amazon and Apple, both of whom see live sports as the last reliable appointment viewing in a fragmented streaming landscape. If that cycle lifts average NHL valuations above $2 billion, FSG's retained equity turns into a tidy return on a club they no longer operate.
The takeaway
Hoffmann family closes NHL's second-largest sale ever, setting a **5.9x** revenue multiple that establishes the floor for six remaining pre-2015 ownership groups.
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