Giants exploring sale of minority stake in the team

Giants exploring sale of minority stake in the team
Giants Wire Giants Wire

The New York Giants are officially up for sale… Or at least a limited stake in the team is.

On Thursday night, a Sports Business Journal report surfaced suggesting the Giants would look to sell up to a 10 percent stake in the team which the organization later confirmed.

The Giants are looking to sell up to 10 percent of the team, sources say, a process likely to set a new high-water mark for an NFL team valuation. The century-old club, one of the most valuable sports teams in the world, has hired Moelis & Co. as its banker.

The team will not sell a majority stake or cede control, which has rested with current President John Mara or his family since his grandfather, Tim Mara, founded the team in 1925, sources said. Since 1991, the Tisch and Mara families have each owned 50% of the club, with a large roster of individual family members holding small stakes. Their precise reason for exploring an LP sale is not known, but the NFL allowed private equity firms to buy up to 10% of teams under a new policy approved last August.

Tim Mara purchased the Giants for just $500 in 1925, while Bob Tisch purchased a 50 percent stake for $75 million in 1991. Splitting and selling a 10 percent stake here in 2025 is likely to reset the market on franchise equity valuations.

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).

Forbes recently estimated the Giants’ value at $7.3 billion, while CNBC estimated their value at $7.85 billion. At the time of the Eagles’ sale, Forbes had them valued at $6.6 billion with CNBC valuing them at $7 billion.

The issue facing the Giants as they prepare to sell a minority stake is that they are no longer a member of the league’s elite. The once proud franchise has floundered over the past decade-plus and is now considered one of the worst teams in football.