Tag: John Mara

Giants ‘not optimistic’ about having fans in the stands this year

New York Giants co-owner John Mara is not optimistic fans will be able to attend games at MetLife Stadium this season.

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As recently as late July, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy expressed some level of optimism that area sports teams, including the New York Giants, would be able to have fans in the stands at some point this season.

With Week 1 of the regular season looming, that optimism has waned.

During a pre-regular season Zoom conference with reporters on Thursday, Giants co-owner John Mara said MetLife Stadium will be empty in September and potentially for the remainder of the season.

“We’re not going to have fans certainly in September. I’m hopeful that at some point we can have them back in. But I have to say I’m not all that optimistic about that,” Mara said.

While the Giants may not be able to welcome fans due to the coronavirus pandemic, other teams across the league may. The concern is that the inconsistency will create an unfair competitive advantage, but Mara dismisses that as an unfortunate product of the times.

“In terms of there being fans in other buildings where we go, that’s just the way it’s going to be. We had a league meeting a couple weeks ago, I think I made the statement that we just have to accept the fact that this is going to be an unusual year,” Mara said. “It’s not necessarily going to be competitively fair in the sense that some teams are going to have fans in the building, some teams are not. That’s just the way it is, and we have to deal with it. Certain areas of the country are going to be a little more liberal about letting people in the building. That’s just something that we’re going to have to accept and move forward.”

Any way you slice it, 2020 is going to be a unique year in the NFL.

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John Mara wants players to stand for national anthem, but will support any protests

New York Giants CEO John Mara says he’d like his players to stand for the national anthem, but will support them if they choose to protest.

New York Giants CEO and co-owner John Mara is the dean of NFL owners. He is well-respected around the league and his counsel is relied upon around the league to keep this NFL juggernaut going.

One would think Mara would be against his players kneeling for the national anthem before games and they would be right. Mara said on a conference call with reporters on Thursday that he prefers the players stand for the Anthem.

But with the recent developments in this country the past several months and the push for social justice after numerous incidents where unarmed black men died at the hands of law enforcement, Mara has softened his stance.

“My preference is that everybody stand, but if you decide in your conscience that taking a knee is the right thing to do I’m going to support your right to do that because I believe in the First Amendment,” Mara said.

“I’ll support any players’ right to engage in silent protest. What makes it easy for me to do that is when I see how much work they’re [Giants players] doing in the community and how important what is going on right now in this country is to each of them, and they back it up with actions, not just words.”

After an “eye-opening” session with the team after the killing of George Floyd, Mara began to see the “raw emotion” that was displayed by many of the players. He realized the need for freedom of expression in these very trying times.

“Our players are very engaged in working in a lot of different areas. They asked me to take part in that video last week and I was happy to do that. I’m going to support our players, particularly when they engage in the type of activity that they have been off the field. They’ve been fantastic about that,” Mara said.

It is expected that many white players will be joining their black teammates in kneeling this season. That will be okay with Mara, who is even encouraging the players to further activism.

“We would like to get our players in front of local political leaders — governors, mayors, police chief — to talk about steps to make change,” Mara said.

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Giants’ John Mara holds Zoom conference: 7 takeaways

New York Giants co-owner John Mara met with members of the media via Zoom on Thursday, and here are seven takeaways.

New York Giants co-owner John Mara had not met with members of the media in quite some time, but with the 2020 regular season looming, he held his annual pre-season conference on Thursday — this time via Zoom.

Mara touched on a wide range of topics, so let those of us here at Giants Wire catch you up.

Danielle Parhizkaran-USA TODAY Sports

Impressed with Joe Judge

When the Giants hired Joe Judge as their next head coach, Mara knew that it would have to be a long-term decision after cycling through a series of other coaches in recent years.

The good news is that Mara has been impressed with Judge to date and feels like the first-time coach has a solid grasp on the long-term direction of the team.

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Giants discussing options for protest, promotion of social justice

The New York Giants are actively discussing ways to protest in the aftermath of two police-involved shootings in recent months.

The New York Giants have not yet decided what they want to do as a form of protest in the aftermath of police shootings involving George Floyd and Jacob Blake, but one potential option is the boycott of a regular season game.

Although nothing has been finalized, both wide receiver Sterling Shepard and running back Saquon Barkley say it’s an option being discussed.

“We’ll talk to the team, and come up with something, and that will be that,” Shepard said on the possibility of boycotting a game.

“I definitely commend [them] for doing that,” Barkley said of the NBA and WNBA canceling games. “I commend them for standing up, using their platform, and using their voice.”

Shepard called the shooting of Blake, which left the 29-year-old paralyzed from the waist down, “senseless.” For Barkley, it brought back memories of an incident his father had with police officers.

“Words really can’t describe how you feel,” Barkley said. “It makes you sick, especially being a Black man. You see those situations happening — and continue to happen. It’s just sad. You look at it like: What if that was my brother? You could lose someone that you really care about.

“I know my father went through a similar situation, when I was in college. Situations like this, you could lose someone. You can’t look at it as Jacob Blake, what if it were me? What if it were Shep? Or one of my brothers?”

While most sports teams and leagues have decided to either cancel practices or games the past two days, the Giants have pressed forward with their practice schedule.

However, that could change on Friday night depending on how upcoming meetings play out. Currently, the Giants are slated to hold an intrasquad scrimmage at MetLife Stadium, but head coach Joe Judge left the door open for that to change.

“Right now we’re planning on having the scrimmage tomorrow,” Judge said. “I spoke briefly with the leadership council today. We’re going to continue conversations later this today. We have some gaps in our schedule. We’re treating this as the day before a game, so it’s what we would do on a Saturday before a Sunday game.

“We have a chunk of time before our evening meetings before we kick off evening meetings. We’re letting the players think about what they want to do. We’re going to have conversations as a coaching staff, and ownership tonight, and we’ll have more answers.”

As far as the team owners, both John Mara and Steve Tisch have been heavily involved and supportive of their players.

“John’s been active since the spring, in terms of voicing his support for them,” Judge said. “John’s been a key figure, him and Steve [Tisch]. They’ve been active and present in meetings, whether it’s in Zoom, or now that we’ve had a chance to meet in person together.”

What the Giants ultimately decide on remains up in the air, but the entire team is prepared to make a statement in whatever form it is they decide to protest.

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Daughter of Giants co-owner Steve Tisch dead at 36

Hilary Tisch, daughter of New York Giants co-owner Steve Tisch, died on Monday at the age of 36.

Hilary Tisch, the daughter of New York Giants co-owner Steve Tisch, died on Monday at the age of 36 after a long bout with depression.

“Hilary was a kind, caring and beautiful person,” Tisch said in the statement, via the New York Post. “Her mother, sisters, brothers and I are devastated by her passing. It leaves a hole in our hearts and our lives. She, like so many others, bravely fought the disease of depression for as long as she could. We love and will miss her dearly. Our family is utterly heartbroken and is mourning its tragic loss. We ask for privacy during this very difficult time.”

After learning of Hilary’s passing, Giants co-owner John Mara released the following statement:

“On behalf of the Mara family and the rest of the Giants organization, I want to express our deepest sympathy to Steve and his family. Our hearts are heavy for their loss of Hilary. We pray for their peace and comfort,” Mara said.

Despite her battle with depression, Hilary volunteered with Operation Smile, which has provided more than 200,000 free surgeries worldwide for children and young adults who were born with cleft palate or other facial deformities. She was also a successful jewelry designer and founding partner of Doen and shopdoen.com.

Hilary is survived by her father, Steve, mother Patsy Tisch and four siblings.

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Giants are among the world’s 10 most valuable sports teams

The New York Giants are among the world’s most valuable sports franchises with a reported worthy of $3.9 billion.

The New York Giants may not be a brand name in much the same way as the New York Yankees or Los Angeles Lakers, but they are well-known across the globe and have found success in the world’s largest media market.

They’re also incredibly valuable.

A year ago, Forbes listed the Giants’ overall value at $3.3 billion, which was good for third in the NFL and 10th in the world. And while that sounds positive, their value had not increased from 2018.

Despite another losing record in 2019, the Giants finally broke out of their slump, bucked that trend and saw a substantial increase in their overall value here in 2020.

Forbes now lists the Giants with a value of $3.9 billion, a $6 million increase over the past 12 months, which is good for third in the NFL behind the Dallas Cowboys ($5.5 billion) and New England Patriots ($4.1 billion), and ninth in the world.

9. New York Giants (NFL)

Value: $3.9 billion
Owner: John Mara, Steven Tisch
Year Purchased: 1925, 1991
Price Paid: $500, $150 million

Interestingly, despite the team’s value, John Mara and Steve Tisch are among the NFL’s least-wealthy owners.

Mara and Tisch each inherited their stake of the team from their fathers. Mara’s grandfather, Tim, founded the Giants in 1925 paying $500 for the club in the struggling National Football League.

Bob Tisch, Steve’s father, bought 50 percent of the team in 1991 from Tim, who, even though the Giants had won two Super Bowls, was still not on good terms with his uncle, Wellington. Tim passed away in 1995.

Wellington Mara passed away on October 25, 2005. Bob Tisch died three weeks later. John Mara was named CEO and Steve Tisch the Chairman after their deaths.

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Giants’ John Mara: We must accept this won’t be a perfect season

New York Giants CEO John Mara told his fellow owners last week that they must accept that this will not be a perfect season due to COVID-19.

The entire NFL offseason was completely readjusted due to the COVID-19 pandemic and if the start to the MLB season is any indication, things are not going to get any easier for the sport of football.

On Monday, it was revealed that over a dozen members of the Miami Marlins (players and coaches) have tested positive for the coronavirus just four days into the MLB season, leading to game cancellations and a significant amount of concern.

Although the NFL won’t play games until September, they are already beginning to prepare themselves for the potential pitfalls, with New York Giants co-owner John Mara warning his fellow owners during a Friday conference call that it’s best just to accept the uncertain nature of things.

“We have to accept that this is not going to be a perfect season,” Mara said, per Peter King.

In a separate call with the NFLPA, Mara expressed confidence that the two sides could work together in the event things went haywire during the season.

The two sides seem to be in a good place in case the game goes haywire this fall. In so many words, Mara said on a Thursday night call with the union: “We’ve worked well together through this process to get to this point. The spirit of cooperation has been really good. We’re obviously headed into uncharted territory this year, and there are going to be other issues we’ll have to work out. We’re going try to work these out as partners too.”

Mara’s optimism had better be met because if what’s going on in Major League Baseball is any indication, things will almost certainly go sideways and the league will be left flying by the seat of their pants.

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Report: Giants expected to delay Eli Manning’s jersey retirement

With no fans allowed in MetLife Stadium, the New York Giants are expected to delay the retirement of Eli Manning’s No. 10.

When Eli Manning announced his retirement from the NFL in January, New York Giants co-owner John Mara was quick to reveal that jersey No. 10 would never again be issued.

“We would be honored to induct Eli into the Giants Ring of Honor,” Mara said at Manning’s retirement press conference. “No Giant will ever wear number 10 again.”

Mara added that Manning’s Ring of Honor ceremony and jersey retirement would happen at some point during the 2020 regular season, but things across the world have changed drastically since then.

On Monday, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed an executive order limiting all outdoor gatherings in the state due to COVID-19, which also signaled the end to any hope that Giants fans could attend home games at MetLife Stadium this fall — and potentially for the entire season.

Accordingly, the Giants may pump the brakes on Manning’s Ring of Honor induction and jersey retirement.

Zack Rosenblatt of NJ Advance Media reports that it’s a “good bet” the Giants delay any ceremonies involving Manning (or any other legendary Giant) that were initially planned for 2020.

The Giants don’t have any plans to induct Manning into the Ring of Honor in 2020 just yet, a person familiar with the team’s thinking told NJ Advance Media. There hasn’t been in-depth conversations about the topic, the person said, but it’s a “good bet” to expect that the retirement of No. 10 will be delayed … for now.

Although the Giants, who have not inducted anyone into the Ring or Honor since 2016, will likely wait to recognize Manning’s remarkable career until there can be a packed stadium, do not expect No. 10 to be issued this season or ever again.

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Could COVID-19 pandemic force owners to sell Giants by 2022?

Darren Rovell believes the COVID-19 pandemic could force John Mara and Steve Tisch to sell the New York Giants by 2022.

NFL teams rarely become available on the open market these days. The league has been a cash cow the past decade or so, doubling their revenue from approximately $8 billion in 2010 to over $16 billion in 2019.

Owning an NFL team has been like owning a bank. It has become almost impossible to buy — or even buy into — an NFL franchise in this day and age. Since 2010, only five of the league’s 32 teams have changed hands: Carolina, Buffalo, Cleveland, Jacksonville and the Rams.

But 2020 has played a cruel turn on the global economy. COVID-19 has decimated many businesses and sent the economy into the worst nosedive in 90 years. Professional team sports has not escaped the debating blow of COVID-19. The NFL’s streak of record revenues will come screeching to a halt this year as games will undoubtedly be played in front of either no fans or much smaller crowds.

That could lead to some owners to cash out while they can. Long-time sports business reporter Darren Rovell believes that “10 to 20 teams” could be sold within the next few years with the New York Giants being the most expensive property on the block.

Forbes valued the Giants at $3.9 billion last year, third in the NFL behind the Dallas Cowboys ($5.5 billion) and the New England Patriots ($4.1 billion). But that was when things were going great. What a difference a year makes.

The Giants, whose value rose by 15 percent in 2019 is likely down at least 20 percent at the moment according to Rovell, and could continue to dive. Ticket rebates along with other lost game day revenue will hammer down their value even further. That is, if the NFL even gets through the season.

The Mara and Tisch families may feel they have reached the ceiling on revenues and could consider taking their long-gained profits and finally walk away. It could be years before the economy bounces back from this crisis. Anyone wanna buy a football team?

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Joe Judge will support Giants players if they kneel during anthem

First-year head coach Joe Judge has pledged his support to any New York Giants players who kneel during the national anthem in 2020.

In recent years, the New York Giants have offered their support for players who chose to kneel in protest during the national anthem, but have encouraged the team to stand.

It’s unclear if the team will again encourage players to stand in 2020, but if they don’t, there won’t be any push-back from first-year head coach Joe Judge.

During a series of interviews this week, which came as the Giants ended their virtual offseason program, Judge told reporters that he will support any players who opt to kneel during the national anthem this season.

“We’re going to be very receptive of our team, and we’re going to support our players,” Judge told NJ Advance Media. “We’ll involve the players, be in there as coaches. The owners have been involved and have been phenomenal in listening.”

Judge has participated in several recent team meetings in regard to racial injustice and police brutality in America — meetings which have also been attended by Giants co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch.

“For me to be the voice of the team, I have to really understand what collectively puts together our team,” Judge said. “I stress to my children at home the same thing, having these conversations and listening. Not listening defensively, not listening to respond, but to listen to comprehend.”

The decision to listen and comprehend comes after the death of George Floyd, an African American who died in Minneapolis police custody last month. His death has sparked massive protests and riots across the country.

“Honestly as a 38-year-old white guy, I don’t have all the answers on this,” Judge told the New York Post. “It’s important for me to just listen, and listen to our players.

“I talk enough. You find out a lot about people’s experiences that aren’t exactly the same as yours. You find out a lot about people’s emotions of things that they carry around and you want to make sure you support all the players. Make sure they understand you’re not just here for the X’s and O’s. That you’re here for them as a person, that you’re here for them as a player, that you’re here to help them be a better professional, a better family man.”

Ultimately, Judge said, he wants his team to not only support each other, but to support their communities and make positive changes.

“We want to make a lasting difference. We want to be very involved with our community and we’re going to work to support the players and give them the vehicle to do so. We’re going to be very involved as well as coaches. The owners have been phenomenal. We’ve had very open dialogue as a team,” Judge said. “It’s been very passionate, very enlightening. We have an opportunity to show 90 guys of different backgrounds working together towards a common goal of doing the right thing for each other, doing the right thing for communities and we can use our platform to do something positive.”

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