It was spearheaded during a dark year for the ball club with national media focused on the Pittsburgh drug trials, where many former Pirates as well as other major leaguers were brought up on Federal drug charges for offenses through the early 1980s.
At the same time, longtime owner John W. Galbreath was looking for a new buyer, and cities such as New Orleans and Portland were making attractive bids.
The Associates were spearheaded by popular Pittsburgh Mayor Richard S. Caliguiri and some prominent corporate leaders of such companies as Westinghouse, Alcoa, PPG, United States Steel,[1] PNC, Mellon Financial, Carnegie Mellon University and Ryan Homes.
The deal was intended to ensure that the Pirates would stay in Pittsburgh until a new long-term buyer could be found to keep the club in the city.
However, the consortium's stewardship of the Pirates would last for 10 years until Kevin McClatchy bought the team in 1996.