Mario Lemieux Wants Full Control of Penguins

Mario Lemieux wants to buy back the Pittsburgh Penguins and is looking for complete control.

Feb 18, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Penguins former center Mario Lemieux gestures to the crowd during a ceremony to retire the jersey number of Penguins former right wing Jaromir Jagr (not pictured) at PPG Paints Arena. The Penguins host the Los Angeles Kings after the ceremony. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Fenway Sports Group (FSG) purchased the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2021 and is already looking to sell out a portion of their stake in the team. The biggest name to emerge with interest in buying the Penguins is the same group that sold it to FSG in the first place.

Penguins’ icon Mario Lemieux, along with Ron Burkle and David Morehouse, have expressed a great deal of interest in getting back in the owner’s box. While FSG has been searching for a minority investor, the Lemieux group has bigger goals.

According to Josh Yohe of the Athletic, Lemieux and his team want full control of the Penguins.

“Sources close to Lemieux have made it clear that Lemieux and Burkle are not interested in becoming minority owners with FSG,” Yohe writes. “It’s all or nothing for the two men who owned the Penguins from 1999 through 2021.”

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is aware of the Lemieux group’s interest in buying back the Penguins.

Considering FSG isn’t quite looking to relinquish their entire stock and Lemieux has big aspirations, negotiations and talks between the two sides are sure to be lengthy.

Yohe notes that FSG and the Lemieux group are yet to meet and an offer has not been made, but something should be coming soon.

“The Lemieux group has neither made an offer nor discussed one with FSG,” Yohe writes. “It’s expected that such a conversation will take place soon.”

Lemieux and Burkle took control of the Penguins in 1999, saving them from bankruptcy. The Penguins likely wouldn’t be where they are today had it not been for those two.

Under their ownership, the Penguins won the Stanley Cup three times and up until their sale in 2021, have routinely been one of the top teams in the NHL.

Morehouse joined the Penguins in 2007 as team president and was later named CEO in 2010. He was instrumental in getting the team in a new arena and stepped away from the team in 2022.

Lemieux wants back in, and fans would surely welcome the franchise’s most important name back with open arms. Many likely prefer Lemieux in control instead of FSG.

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