Penguins owner Fenway Sports Group is in “growth mode”

Three major professional teams aren’t enough for the Fenway Sports Group.

The FSG purchased a controlling interest in the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2021 for $900 million, adding an NHL team to an ownership portfolio including the MLB’s Boston Red Sox and the Premier League’s Liverpool FC.

Now, the company is in “growth mode” once again, according to FSG’s chief financial officer.

Julie Swinehart, FSG CFO, said on Bloomberg’s July 12 “Chief Future Officer” show that she was working to maintain FSG’s finances “so that we can go and seek out that new team, in an existing league, or perhaps dive into a new venture in a new type of sport. We are in growth mode.”

Sam Kennedy, President and CEO of the Boston Red Sox and chief executive of FSG, backed up that statement.

“As long as the growth opportunities fit our overarching criteria... it’s something we’ll look at,” Kennedy said.

The FSG’s recent growth began in 2021, before the group’s purchase of the Penguins.

Private investment firm RedBird Capital Partners bought about a 10 percent stake in FSG in March 2021 based on a $7.35 billion evaluation of the company.

That deal brought new investors including LeBron James into FSG’s ownership group. James recently signed “lifetime marketing deal” with FSG, Sportico reported in March.

Since then, FSG has been connected with interest in a potential NBA expansion team. The Ringer’s Bill Simmons reported last year that FSG was a “leading contender” to purchase an expansion club in Las Vegas. James has expressed similar interest.

The FSG will also reportedly be sticking around as the majority owners of Liverpool. Despite November reports that FSG was putting the Premier League club up for sale, the team announced in February that the team would not be changing hands.

It looks like the Penguins’ newest ownership group is in for the long haul, in Pittsburgh and elsewhere.

So far, they have been hands-on in managing the Penguins throughout this turbulent offseason, to say the least. FSG chairman Tom Werner was on the phone with Kyle Dubas the day after he separated from the Toronto Maple Leafs, per The Athletic’s Rob Rossi, sparking the chain of events that led The Athletic’s Dom Luszczyszyn to rank the Pens as the fifth-most improved team in the NHL this offseason.