Where do Giants rank among most profitable sports franchises?

The New York Giants are one of the most iconic sports franchises. Since 1925, the Mara family have owned and operated the team, leading them to eight total world championships, including four Super Bowl rings. Above all else, though, football is a business, and for current co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch, it’s quite a lucrative one.

In 2022, the Giants’ valuation was ranked fourth in the NFL at $6 billion. More than just the money Mara and Tisch can make by selling the team, though, they also generate quite the profit from ownership. A Forbes article listed the Giants as the ninth-most profitable franchises in sports, earning $333 million over the last three seasons (2019-21 for football, 2020-22 for the other sports). The list covers the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, and soccer teams. That ranking is fourth among NFL teams, trailing only the Dallas Cowboys (No. 1), New England Patriots (No. 2), and, surprisingly, the Houston Texans (No. 6).

Jerry Jones has been the king of the NFL since purchasing America’s Team. The Cowboys are the only franchise in the world worth more than $8 billion and brought in $1.17 billion in income over the past three years. Robert Kraft and the New England Patriots, meanwhile, built their empire from a two-decade run of dominance that included six championships.

The only other teams ahead of the Giants were Tottenham Hotspur (No. 3), the New York Knicks (No. 4), Manchester United (No. 5), the Golden State Warriors (No. 7), and the Los Angeles Lakers (No. 8).

No MLB or NHL teams made the list, which would seemingly make sense given their lesser popularity compared to the other sports. Both leagues’ broadcasting deals are not as lucrative as the other leagues’ are, either. The main reason for the zeros in baseball and hockey, though, was the pandemic that crushed profits.

Besides the Cowboys and Giants, the other two NFC East teams also made the list: the Commanders came in at No. 13 with $290 million in profits, while the Eagles ranked 24th with $239 million. Apparently, the NFC East has been as profitable as it was competitive last season.

Some Giants fans may recall a certain lukewarm Fan Appreciation Day promotion in light of this information. However, as long as the team puts a winning product on the field, no fan cares too much about the other stuff. They did so in 2022 and hope to replicate and then exceed that success in 2023.