New York Giants
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The New York Giants are one of the most valuable teams in pro sports.
Lost amid the controversy swirling around Steve Tisch is the fact the New York Giants are one of the most valuable franchises on the planet.
The proposed valuation of the Giants, which the Tisch family is transferring to their children, has the team’s worth valued at $10.8 billion.
The Tisches have shared ownership with the Mara family since the family patriarch Preston Robert Tisch purchased a 50% stake in the team in 1991. Steve Tisch has co-run the Giants, along with John Mara, since 2005, when Preston passed away — mere weeks after Mara’s father Wellington died.
But Steve Tisch’s hold on the Giants is tenuous, due to his presence in the so-called Epstein Files, which the United States Department of Justice released last month. That will likely force him to transfer his stake to his children.
The Giants are Being Valued at $10.8 Billion
NFL team values continue to rise, so it’s no surprise the Giants are one of the most valuable franchises in North American professional sports.
According to Mike Ozanian of CNBC, Tisch and his sister Laurie and their brother Jonathan are set to transfer about $2.3 billion in equity, or 23% of the team, to their children. At that valuation, the Giants would value at nearly $11 billion.
Preston Tisch’s purchase of 50% of the Giants was for $75 million slightly more than 35 years ago, which indicates a 144x return on investment. He and his family continue to reap the rewards of that decision.
Still, the Giants are not the most valuable NFL team, even by valuation standards. Lin Bin, a Chinese billionaire smart-phone mogul, purchased a 1% stake of the Miami Dolphins, Hard Rock Stadium and two other properties from Stephen Ross for $125 million, a $12.5 billion valuation.
Technically, the Giants are worth more than the Dolphins though, since the transfer of equity is only for only the team and not MetLife Stadium or anything else. Bin purchased a stake in the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix and Miami Open tennis tournament for his purchase, as well as the NFL team and its home stadium.
What Happens Next With Steve Tisch is Unclear
The evidence against Steve Tisch, mainly email correspondence with Epstein, the deceased former real-estate mogul and convicted child sex offender, is likely too much for him to come back from.
But so far, the transfer of ownership from the Tisches to their children is the only domino to fall in the wake of the damning report from The Athletic that implicated Steve Tisch as a major player in Epstein’s universe.
The transfer of ownership to the Tisch children’s trust, which still needs to be approved by the NFL’s finance committee, likely is just a formality aimed at taking the heat off Steve Tisch.
Tisch still is reportedly planning to serve as the chairman of the board of the Giants, which is of course an extremely powerful role within the organization — too powerful, frankly.
The NFL has nudged owners to sell teams, notably Daniel Snyder of the Washington Commanders and Jerry Richardson of the Carolina Panthers in the past decade, but has not formally forced an ownership group to exit — like what the NBA did with former Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling.
If the NFL is going to rubber stamp the transfer of ownership and allow Steve Tisch to remain in an authority position with the Giants, it’ll represent a brave new world for any football fans hoping the league would hold its powerful authority figures to any kind of standard.