Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto on Thursday said moving the Penguins "is not an option" even if the team is sold to new ownership, according to Mark Belko of the PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE. He said, "The Penguins are in Pittsburgh and that's a given." Peduto added that the "nearly 30-year lease the Penguins signed in 2007 to build Consol Energy Center binds the team to Pittsburgh and also 'guarantees that there are no options to break it.'" Peduto noted that he "doesn't see a potential sale having any negative impact on the redevelopment of the former Civic Arena site." The Penguins "hold the development rights to the 28 acres of publicly owned land" (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 6/5). Belko notes the franchise "now plays in 5-year-old Consol Energy Center, it already has begun redeveloping the 28-acre former Civic Arena site next to it, and it enjoys a fervent fan base and strong TV ratings." Experts said that the "strengths" that have co-Owners Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle exploring their options are "the same ones that make it highly unlikely that anyone who buys it would think about moving it." Pittsburgh-Allegheny County Sports & Exhibition Authority BOD Chair Wayne Fontana said, "This isn't selling it to leave. This is selling it to stay." SportsCorp President Marc Ganis added, "I don't see relocation as an option here." Ganis said that the pace of development on the Civic Arena site "could quicken ... as a new owner seeks to recoup his investment in the Penguins." Ganis: "Whoever buys the team has to look at non-team opportunities to recoup the investment. The real estate investment is one of those opportunities." Penguins COO Travis Williams in a statement said the team "remains committed as ever" to developing the site. Williams: "Nothing has changed based on Wednesday's announcement. This will be a transformational project for the region" (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 6/5).
SWEETHEART OF A DEAL: Penguins officials on Thursday said that the more than $400M in planned development on the former Civic Arena site "could make the franchise more attractive to would-be buyers." In Pittsburgh, Mackey & Fontaine in a front-page piece note the Penguins "obtained exclusive development rights to the 28-acre former arena site" in '07. Robert Morris Univ. sports management professor John Clark called the agreement "a sweetheart deal." Under the deal, the Penguins "are required to develop" at least 10% of the site each year until it is fully built up. Work is "to begin this year with construction of a corporate headquarters for U.S. Steel" (PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW, 6/5). Meanwhile, in Pittsburgh, Dave Molinari reports although some "preliminary inquiries apparently have been made, the identities of the parties expressing interest" in buying the Penguins "are not known." More are "expected now that the word is out that Lemieux and Burkle have retained" Morgan Stanley to "investigate their options" (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 6/5).
MARKET WATCH: In Pittsburgh, Ron Cook writes Lemieux and Burkle "have been among the best, most stable and most supportive owners in sports, freely spending to produce a winner." But the Penguins "have underachieved despite having two of the world's best players" in Cs Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. They play "exciting hockey most of the time, have won a lot of regular-season games and have made a lot of money for Burkle and Lemieux with a consecutive games home sellout streak of 377 and the highest local television ratings for a U.S.-based NHL team six years in a row." But they "often have come up small in the playoffs," which "has to be one of the reasons Burkle and Lemieux are looking to sell." The value of the franchise "appears ready to dip," as the sellout streak "almost certainly will end next season" (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 6/5).
