Eli Manning and Michael Strahan may have been teammates on the field, but they are now in competition off the field. Both players are reportedly seeking to buy a minority share of the New York Giants, but only one of them can likely walk away with that stake, according to Pro Football Talk.
The Giants are reportedly looking to sell a 10 percent stake in the franchise, and Manning’s involvement in preparing an offer was reported by Bloomberg in April. Strahan reportedly has his own separate group looking to buy that stake, according to Sportico.
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Strahan is pairing with billionaire Marc Lasry to try and buy the minority share. Lasry owns Avenue Capital Group, a global investment firm. He previously owned a stake in the Milwaukee Bucks, which he sold in 2023. A 10 percent ownership stake in the Giants will cost roughly $750 million, per Pro Football Talk, so Strahan needs additional investors to purchase the share.
Manning’s partners are not known at this time. He reportedly spoke to both investors and other retired NFL players when assembling his group. Manning made $252 million over his NFL career and, like Strahan, would need help from additional investors to make the purchase. Manning reportedly spoke to Strahan about teaming up to buy the share but had to pull out of those discussions “due to conflicts with his other business holdings,” per Sportico.
Manning discussed the idea of buying an ownership stake in the Giants in January. During an interview with CNBC, Manning said that was the only NFL franchise he would consider trying to buy a minority share.
“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.”
A month later, the Giants announced their intention to sell a minority stake in the franchise.
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Both Manning and Strahan have a history with the franchise. Strahan was drafted by the team in the second round of the 1993 NFL Draft. He spent his entire 15-year career with the Giants, and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2014.
Manning was drafted by the Los Angeles Chargers and then traded to the Giants in the 2004 NFL Draft. He, along with Strahan, helped lead the Giants to two Super Bowl titles. Manning was not inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame during his first year of eligibility and is expected to be the source of intense debates in future years. Like Strahan, Manning spent his entire career with the Giants.
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