Could Eli Manning emerge as a partner for the Mara and Tisch families?
The Mara and Tisch families, co-owners of the New York Giants since 1991, have decided to “explore the potential” of selling a “non-controlling” minority share of the team not to exceed 10%.
Sports Business Journal reported earlier this week that the Giants had hired investment bank Moelis & Company to help facilitate a potential sale.
The Giants confirmed the news in a statement:
“The Mara and Tisch families have retained Moelis & Company to explore the potential sale of a minority, non-controlling stake in the New York Giants. There will be no further comment in regard to the process.”
This is not the Mara and Tisch families selling the team outright or giving up decision-making control, as some unhappy fans have been screaming for as the team has struggled in recent years.
The Mara family owned 100% of the Giants from 1925-1991, until selling 50% of the team to the Tisch family.
Per SBJ’s reporting, estimates of the Giants’ value range from $7.3 billion (Forbes) to $7.85 billion (CNBC).
The NFL approved a policy in August of 2024 allowing private equity firms to purchase up to 10% of teams. Traditional limited partner sales can also take place. Four such deals have taken place in the last year, per SBJ.
Sports Business Journal had this to say about how much the Mara and Tisch families could earn from a minority stake sale:
The Giants’ sales process could result in a fascinating data point for the NFL club equity market. In December, the now-Super Bowl champion Eagles sold 8% percent to two wealthy families in deals valuing the club at $8.1 billion and $8.3 billion, respectively. Experts believe the Giants’ valuation will beat those numbers based on the size of the New York City market alone (roughly 19.5 million in NYC versus 6.2 million in Philadelphia).
But experts differ on how much higher than the Eagles’ number the Giants could fetch. The Giants share their market with the Jets, and while the Giants’ valuation reflects its generational brand as a 100-year-old club with a generally successful history in the country’s largest city, they’ve been one of the worst teams in the NFL for over a decade and fan enthusiasm has cratered. Also, a private equity firm is likely to be more cautious on price than the wealthy families who bought into the Eagles.
Interestingly, the idea of selling a minority share cracks the door open for former Giants quarterback Eli Manning to buy into the team. Manning recently expressed interest in becoming a minority owner of the team:
“It’s definitely something of interest,” said Manning, who spoke in a CNBC Sport interview. “There’s probably only one team I’d be interested in pursuing, and it’s the one I played for for 16 years, and it’s local, and makes the most sense, but we just got to figure out if they would ever sell a little bit.”
Apparently, they would. It will be interesting to see if Manning emerges as the buyer.
