Financial history of the New York Giants The New York Giants , an American football team which plays in the National Football League ( NFL ) , have had a long , and at times turbulent financial history . The Giants were founded in 1925 by businessman and bookmaker Tim Mara with an investment of 500 US $ , and became one of the first teams in the then five - year - old NFL . Mara passed ownership of the team on to his sons Wellington and Jack after the 1929 Stock Market Crash to insulate the team from creditors . At first the Mara sons owned the team in name only , but they took increasingly larger roles in the organization beginning in the mid 1930s . Tim Mara remained involved in the team ' s operations until his death in 1959 , when his sons assumed full control of the club . After Jack ' s passing in 1965 , his son , Tim , took over his share of the team . Although the Giants were successful on the field in their initial seasons , they struggled financially . A key event in franchise history occurred in the 11th game of the Giants inaugural season . The Chicago Bears , led by star running back Red Grange , came to town attracting a then pro football record 73 , 000 fans , and giving the Giants a much needed financial influx . The following year , Grange and his agent formed a rival league and stationed a competing team , led by Grange , in New York . Though the Giants lost $ 50 , 000 that season , the rival league folded and was subsumed into the NFL . After these initial struggles , the Giants financial status stabilized , and they led the league in attendance several times in the 1930s and 1940s . By the early 1960s , the Giants had firmly established themselves as one of the league ' s biggest attractions . However , rather than continue to receive their higher share of the league television revenue , the Mara sons pushed for equal sharing of revenue for the benefit of the entire league . Revenue sharing is still practiced in the NFL today , and is credited with strengthening the league . After struggling in the latter half of the 1960s and the entire 1970s , the Giants hired an outsider , George Young , to run football operations for the first time in several decades . The Giants on - field product and business aspects improved rapidly following the hiring . In 1990 , Jack Mara ' s son , Tim , who was struggling with cancer at the time , sold his half of the team to Bob Tisch . This marked the first time in franchise history the team had not been solely owned by the Mara family . In 2005 , Wellington Mara , who had been with the team since its inception in 1925 when he worked as a ball boy , died . His death was followed two weeks later by the death of Tisch . The Giants are currently owned by the sons of Wellington Mara and Bob Tisch — John K . Mara and Steve Tisch . An estimate of the franchise ' s current value places it at $ 1 . 2 billion . Early history and fiscal struggles : 1925 – 1929 . The Giants were founded in 1925 by Tim Mara , a bookmaker ( legal in 1925 ) , businessman , and promoter , with an investment of US $ 500 after a meeting with league president Joseph Carr , and Harry March . Carr was sent to the east coast to find someone to put a team in a major city there to help the struggling league . Carr contacted Billy Gibson who was the manager of heavyweight boxer Gene Tunney and knew of Mara from Mara ' s interest in investing in Tunney . Mara decided to spend the $ 500 on the Giants as opposed to Tunney in a spur of the moment decision , and started the team with the statement , " an exclusive franchise for anything in New York is worth $ 500 . " His son Wellington later said that his father felt that even an empty store in the city was worth that price . Mara purchased the team , despite never having watched a single pro game , saying to the sellers at the time , " Just tell me one thing . Now that I have a franchise , what do I do with it . " To differentiate themselves from the baseball team of the same name , they took the name " New York Football Giants " , which they still use as their legal corporate name . Mara soon realized that his purchase of the team did not yield any players , coaches , equipment , or a home field . March helped him establish the team by taking a job as the team ' s secretary and handling the personnel decisions , and Gibson served as the team ' s president . Mara ' s friends were wary of investing in the team , but he convinced Matty Frank , a real estate investor , and a few other people to invest . Mara rented the Polo Grounds as the team ' s stadium , and March developed a strategy that hinged on acquiring stars such as running back Jim Thorpe . At 37 years old , Thorpe was a shadow of his former self , and his contract required that he only play parts of games during the early parts of the season , until he got into shape . He played only the first regular season game however , before ending his Giants career due to injury . His absence would severely hurt the team ' s monetary outlook for the season . Although the Giants were successful on the field in their first season , going 8 – 4 in 1925 , their financial status was a different story . According to football historian Barry Gottehrer : The Giants went 8 – 4 – 1 in 1926 , and withstood a challenge from an upstart American football league led by a team featuring Grange . Grange and his agent had formed the American Football League and placed their flagship team , the Yankees , in New York . According to a story by " The New York Times " published at the time , the Giants lost over $ 50 , 000 during the season . Grange ' s league lasted one season however , and was subsumed into the NFL . The Giants were so desperate to make money they allowed star Duluth Eskimos running back Ernie Nevers back into a close game after he was injured , even though by the rules they had the right to disallow his re - entrance , to please fans who had come to see him . The Yankees were subsumed into the NFL the next year and played most of their games on the road to avoid direct competition with the Giants . They folded in 1928 , one year after Grange went back to playing for the Bears . The Giants paid a total of $ 21 , 000 in player salary in 1926 , including paying all player expenses during the season , and player salaries ranged from $ 1 , 500 to $ 3 , 000 . According to March , the attendance for the season was nearly equal to the 274 , 500 the team reported in their inaugural season . However , home attendance for games at the Polo Grounds dropped from 25 , 000 to 15 , 000 a game . The team ' s attendance on the road was significantly higher in their early history — the team averaged 57 , 000 in their three road games in 1925 . Mara replaced Gibson as the team ' s president before the 1927 season . He told March to spend whatever he felt necessary to build a championship caliber team . March overhauled the roster and the team finished 11 – 1 – 1 , while winning its first NFL championship . They barely broke even financially however , and the team was still giving away as many as 4 , 000 tickets a game . Mara decided to reduce costs the following season , and instead of traveling first class , the Giants drove to games in a used bus , and stayed at local YMCA s instead of hotels . The team had to push the bus once for several miles when it broke down , and players had trouble sleeping at the Y . They won only four games , and Mara lost $ 40 , 000 . Before the 1929 season , Mara purchased the entire squad of the rival Detroit Wolverines , including star quarterback Benny Friedman , a team which had finished in third place the year before . The rosters of the two teams were combined under the Giants name and this led to immediate improvement as the Giants finished 13 – 1 – 1 . Friedman ' s arrival in particular boosted tickets sales to an average of 25 , 000 a game , which more than covered the expense of his high salary ( $ 10 , 000 ) . The team made an $ 8 , 500 profit on the season . Wellington and Jack Mara take over : 1930 – 1963 . After losing money in the 1929 stock market crash , Mara transferred ownership of the team over to his two sons in part to insulate the team from creditors . During the 1930 season , the team signed star Army halfback Red Cagle , who helped them at the box office . March later said , " When Red made his first appearance with the New York Giants , the additional attendance was enough to pay his salary [ $ 7 , 500 ] for the remainder of the season and all of the next . His fame had filled the papers for three or four years and he helped receipts all over the circuit . " Tim Mara called their 1930 home game versus Green Bay , where they made $ 60 , 000 aided by Cagle ' s debut , a " lifesaver " . The Giants were projected gains of $ 20 , 000 in 1930 , when they decided to hold a charity game for New York ' s homeless against some of Notre Dame ' s retired legends including the four horseman backfield from their 1924 team . The Giants won 22 – 0 in a game that raised $ 115 , 183 for the homeless , and is often credited with establishing the legitimacy of the professional game . Despite losing money on the Notre Dame game , and another exhibition to the Staten Island Stapletons , the Giants made a profit of $ 23 , 000 on the year . In 1931 the team was struggling financially again after the retirement of Friedman . Tim Mara lamented not deducting expenses from the charity game versus Notre Dame , which had cost Mara a loss of around $ 15 , 000 . Friedman returned around mid - season and his comeback boosted ticket sales . Mara also used promotions like a free ladies night game — which attracted 12 , 000 women — to increase interest in the team . The Giants made a profit of $ 31 , 000 in 1931 . Friedman quit the team after the season when Mara denied him an ownership stake , telling him " I ' m sorry . . . but the Giants are for my sons . " By 1932 , Wellington began keeping track of college players by studying " dozens of out - of - town newspapers " every day , and kept a file of all the players — pro and college — that he liked for the team . He updated the file every night , and by that year had begun giving his father lists of what he considered the best college players . After that season , he gave his father another list and suggested they draft more collegians as he felt the team was aging rapidly . When the " New York Post " became aware of this they published the following mocking poem : Before the next season Tim Mara signed All - American University of Michigan quarterback Harry Newman , and free agent halfback Ken Strong . Mara broke his own rule by offering Newman a contract which allowed him a percentage of the gate . That same season Wellington Mara ' s mother was finally allowed him to spend training camp living with the team . When he inadvertently received a black eye while he was helping the team with their punting drills , his father had to talk his mother out of making him come back home . The 1934 NFL Championship Game , dubbed the " Sneakers Game " because the Giants donned sneakers at halftime to get better traction , resulted in a 30 – 13 win on the field for the team but an even more important victory in the box office . Tickets for the game sold so fast that Mara decided to add 6 , 000 temporary seats on the sidelines and in other portions of the stadium , which resulted in the team taking in $ 64 , 504 from that game alone . Wellington becomes secretary : 1935 – 1944 . By 1935 Jack Mara had received a degree from Fordham Law School , passed the bar , and was , at age 27 , the team ' s president . By that same year , 19 year old Wellington had become the team ' s secretary , and he started to exert influence over personal decisions . Newman retired before the 1935 season rather than come back from a back injury suffered the previous year when the team refused to give him a raise . This left Strong as the team ' s top draw , and the Giants signed him to a contract which guaranteed him $ 4 , 000 but gave him a percentage of the draw that could make his salary reach a maximum of $ 6 , 000 depending on attendance . At midseason the team ' s attendance had increased by 15 % from the previous year ' s record ticket sales . Although Strong was paid well that season , and took advantage of high ticket sales from games in which he was injured , many of the other team ' s players were not . " I felt pretty damn good , " Strong later said about his salary , " but guys like Hein , Morgan , and Burnett weren ' t making much more than a hundred dollars a game . The salaries the front office fed to the newspapers weren ' t exactly true . We had three All - Stars on the Giants making less money than most of the bench warmers on the Dodgers . Hein was the greatest player the Giants ever had , but he didn ' t start making five thousand dollars until after his twelfth season . " Hein remarked that he felt he was well paid for the time however , " I think at the time $ 150 [ his salary in 1931 ] was probably the highest pay of any lineman in the league . It was pretty good money , even though it wouldn ' t sound that way now , but you could buy a loaf of bread for a nickel and get a full meal for thirty - five cents in the Automat back then . And you had no income tax . " Wellington was a fan of George Washington University ' s Alphonse " Tuffy " Leemans , and one of first major personnel decisions he made was selecting the obscure running back in the second round of the NFL ' s first draft in 1936 . The draft helped reduce player salaries as a drafted player could no longer negotiate with other teams . The Maras were fans of the reduced payouts . " We found out that it didn ' t work to pay one star eight hundred dollars a game and the rest about one hundred , " said Tim Mara . " The majority of players resented it and their resentment showed in their play . " The Giants began to standardize pay , which they felt avoided player jealousy . The team paid all of their backs $ 150 a game , and all of their lineman $ 100 a game in 1936 , while Danowski , their quarterback , made $ 350 a contest . Strong was asked to take a pay cut from $ 6 , 000 a season to $ 3 , 200 , but he left for the new American Football League instead . The team finished in the black in 1936 . In 1939 and 1940 , the Giants led the league in attendance , with 233 , 440 in six home games in 1939 , and 247 , 646 over seven home games in 1940 . They also had the league ' s two biggest turnouts in 1939 in their games against the Washington Redskins ( 62 , 543 ) and Bears ( 58 , 693 ) . In 1940 , their game against the Brooklyn Dodgers , drew 54 , 997 on December 1 at the Polo Grounds , which was also the league high for that season . In 1943 , the Giants led the league in attendance again with 245 , 398 for six games , and had the league ' s highest single game attendance for their game versus the Bears with 56 , 691 . Post World War II era and beyond : 1945 – 1963 . By 1946 , Tim Mara had given over complete control of the team to his sons . Jack , the older son , controlled the business aspects , while Wellington concentrated on the on - field operations . In that same year , NBC televised the Giants game versus the Green Bay Packers on September 20 — the first non - experimental televised game in league history . In 1953 , John Mara stated that he felt television was actually harmful to the Giants financial prospects . In court testimony at the government ' s anti - trust case against the NFL , Mara called for what he termed a " full - house guarantee " , stating that unless all home game were guaranteed to be sold out , they should not be televised within a radius of New York City . The Giants had made $ 49 , 000 in gate revenue , $ 50 , 000 in radio receipts , and $ 108 , 000 in television receipts in 1952 . Although the Giants were no longer the league ' s top draw by 1955 , falling to ninth in attendance and being one of three teams which had decreased attendance compared to the previous season , the Maras were still financially secure enough to turn down an offer of one million dollars for the team . NFL commissioner Bert Bell had personally made the offer on behalf of an unidentified group of investors , and accorded to Bell the Maras responded , " [ f ] ootball is our business and we intend to remain in it . " The offer was the largest for a franchise in pro football up to that point . The investment group was reportedly enticed by the team ' s potential television revenue — at the time the Giants " television - radio " income led the league at $ 150 , 000 annually — and the 8 , 000 , 000 population of New York City from which it could draw . Despite the size of the offer , John Mara considered the figure low , and stated that he had " no idea " who was in the group attempting to buy the team . Before the 1956 season , the Giants , who had previously been renting the Polo Grounds from baseball ' s Giants at a rate of $ 75 , 000 a year , began playing their home games at Yankee Stadium . The Giants run of championship game appearances in their late 1950s and early 1960s combined with their large market location translated into financial success . In 1958 they set a new home attendance record when 71 , 163 fans attended their November 8th game against Baltimore . And in 1959 they established their next four highest home game totals by drawing between 66 and 68 thousand fans for games versus the Eagles , Packers , Browns , and Steelers . By the early 1960s , the Giants were receiving $ 175 , 000 a game under the NFL ' s television contract with CBS — four times as much as small - market Green Bay , which was one of the most successful teams of the era . However , in the league ' s new contract , the Maras convinced the other owners that it would be in the best interest of the NFL to share television revenue equally , a practice which is still current , and is credited with strengthening the NFL . The Giants and professional football as a whole , were helped financially by their contest versus the Baltimore Colts in the 1958 NFL Championship game . The televised game became the first professional football game to go into overtime , and is credited with increasing the popularity of the NFL in the US . The explosion in interest in pro football was evidenced in the Giants financials : in 1956 they had less than 8 , 000 season ticket holders and by 1963 that number had increased to over 50 , 000 . They sold out every home game in 1962 and 1963 . Additionally , while scalpers hardly existed in 1956 , by 1963 they regularly received $ 25 for a $ 5 ticket . The Giants captivated New York . Before the 1962 NFL championship game versus the Packers , 10 , 000 fans at a New York Knicks game spontaneously began chanting " Beat Green Bay ! Beat Green Bay ! " , and when the 18 , 000 tickets available to non season ticket holders went on sale for the game , they sold within three hours . Fans made reservations for motels in Pennsylvania , New Jersey , and Connecticut so they could watch the game out of the 75 mile blackout zone , and even though the game was played in single digit weather with 35 mph winds , only 299 fans who bought tickets stayed home . Wilderness years : 1964 – 1978 . After advancing to the league championship game in five out of the past six seasons , the Giants financial outlook was bright heading into the 1964 season . The team even went so far as to book movie theaters where fans could watch the team ' s games for six dollars . However , the team struggled mightily , finishing 2 – 10 – 2 in 1964 , beginning an 18 - season playoff drought . This period in team history is often referred to as " the wilderness years " . In 1965 , Jack Mara died , leaving his 50 percent share in the team to his son Tim . While Wellington and Jack had a solid relationship , Tim and Wellington frequently clashed . " Wellington Mara lives the spiritual life . " Former Giant Frank Gifford later recalled . " I never heard him utter a swear word . He goes to mass almost every day and has put all eleven of his children through catholic colleges . That ' s Well ' s life : his family , his church , and his Giants . " Tim , however , had two ex - wives and lived a more outgoing , laid back lifestyle . Wellington fought the AFL - NFL merger that took place in the 1966 season , and as a result , the league gave him $ 10 million to allow another team , the Jets , into the city as an NFL team . The money was paid out in yearly installments of $ 500 , 000 . In 1971 , Pete Axthelm , writing in " New York " magazine , said that " a conservative estimate of Wellington Mara ' s profit would begin at $ 1 million . " The writer said that the Maras were known to treat positive reporters well and mistreat negative ones , sometimes by giving them unfavorable seats and on some occasions by supposedly calling their sports editors to request they no long cover the team . Desiring their own home stadium , in the early 1970s the Giants reached an agreement with the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority to play their home games at a brand - new , state - of - the - art , dedicated football stadium . Some New Yorkers were furious and Mayor John Lindsay had attempted to keep the team in the city by proposing to buy Yankee Stadium and renovate it at a cost of $ 24 million . Lindsay estimated that they brought $ 3 million to the city , and was anxious to keep that revenue , as well as satisfy New York Giant fans . Axthlem characterized the Giants fan base at the time as mostly " white , suburban and fairly well to do , and its members drive cars to football games . " The battle became nasty with members of the New York City side claiming that the Maras " complained of how inconvenient it was for " them " to park , or for " them " to get out to the neighborhood . " They claimed the Maras " never really negotiated . They just listened . . . I think they were afraid if they asked for something , we might give it to them — and they wanted to keep us from offering a deal that they couldn ' t turn down . " In fact , the Maras had already made the agreement to move out of the city , even though Wellington was still placating the city . He felt this was a factor in the Mara ' s decision to move the stadium , as the attendees could drive to their New Jersey stadium as opposed to traveling through the Bronx to Yankee Stadium . The new stadium , which would become known as Giants Stadium , was to be built at a brand new sports complex in East Rutherford , New Jersey . The decision met with outrage from some New Yorkers , and the city ' s mayor John Lindsay sought legal action to prevent the team from playing in Yankee Stadium — or anywhere else in New York — and demanded a congressional investigation into the deal . As the complex was being built , and their current home at Yankee Stadium was being renovated , they would be without a home for three years . Their final full season at Yankee Stadium was 1972 . After playing their first two games there in 1973 , the Giants played the rest of their home games in 1973 , as well as all of their home games in 1974 , at the Yale Bowl in New Haven , Connecticut . This was done primarily out of a desire to have their own home field , as opposed to having to share Shea Stadium with the Jets . Initially the NFL had a blackout policy which prevented them from playing in Connecticut , but congress passed legislation , later signed by Richard Nixon , that changed the blackout rule . However , between access problems , neighborhood issues , the fact that the Yale Bowl was not ideally suited for pro football ( the stadium did not have lights , nor does it have lights today ) , the age of the stadium ( it was built in 1914 ) , and the lack of modern amenities , the Giants reconsidered their decision when their stadium was not completed on schedule in time for the 1975 season . Construction was delayed a year because of construction delays , cost overruns , seven lawsuits by various groups , and political haggling — New York ' s Governor attempted to block the team ' s move , and the incumbent democratic New Jersey Governor and his republican challenger argued over the stadium . They ultimately agreed to share Shea Stadium with the Jets for the 1975 season . The Giants left Yale Bowl after losing all seven home games played at Yale in the 1974 season and compiling a home record of 1 – 11 over that two - year stretch . Giants Stadium opened in 1976 to a sellout crowd . The stadium cost $ 78 million to build , and had a capacity of 80 , 242 . The Giants led the league in home attendance in 1978 , drawing 604 , 800 in their eight games . However , one of the low points in team history occurred during the season : the so - called " Miracle at the Meadowlands " . With the Giants needing only to kneel the ball to secure a certain victory against the Philadelphia Eagles , they chose to call a running play — which resulted in a fumble that was returned for a game winning touchdown by the Eagles . Two games later , angry Giants fans burned tickets in the parking lot . Protests continued throughout the remainder of the season , reaching a crescendo in the final home game . A group of fans hired a small plane to fly over the stadium on game day carrying a banner that read : " 15 years of lousy football . . . we ' ve had enough . " The game had 24 , 374 no - shows , and fans hanged an effigy of Wellington Mara in the Stadium parking lot . Modern history : 1979 – present . The Giants made the decision to hire a General Manager for the first time in team history following the 1978 season . However , disagreements during the search caused severe friction and discord between Wellington and Tim Mara . At one point they had tried to hire Jan Van Duser , a league executive , but he declined the offer due to the ownership squabbles . Finally , the Maras asked NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle to step in with a recommendation . Rozelle discussed the hiring with former Giants Frank Gifford and Tom Scott , who recommended hiring George Young , who worked in personnel for the Miami Dolphins and had been an assistant coach for the Baltimore Colts . They had already recommended Young to Wellington and his son John who both liked the choice . But felt if Rozelle presented the recommendation as his own idea Wellington and Tim would be more likely to accept the pick , as relations were so bad that any idea that came from one side was immediately rejected by the other . Rozelle recommended Young , he was hired , and was instrumental in turning around the fortunes of the franchise . " Oh , there is no question he helped save the franchise , " John Mara said . " It looked like a no - win situation . He came in and overhauled everything we did in a more professional way . " Despite the hiring and subsequent success , the rift between the Maras lasted for several years and , at one point a partition had to be put between the two in the owner ' s box . Following the 1983 season , the Giants were involved in a fight for the services of star linebacker Lawrence Taylor — who the team had drafted number two overall in the 1981 NFL Draft — with the New Jersey Generals of the USFL and the Giants . Taylor had been given a $ 1 million interest - free , 25 - year loan by the Generals ' owner Donald Trump on December 14 , 1983 , with the provision that he would begin playing in the USFL in 1988 . Taylor quickly regretted the decision and less than a month later attempted to get out of the agreement . The Giants , who were eager to keep Taylor , took part in attempting to free Taylor from it . The results of this tussle included many considerations but the ultimate result was threefold : Taylor had to return the $ 1 million to Trump ; the Giants were required to pay Trump $ 750 , 000 over the next five seasons in order for Trump to release Taylor ' s rights ; and Taylor was given a new six - year $ 6 . 2 - million contract by the Giants . With Taylor retained , the Giants won two Super Bowls ; in 1986 , led by Taylor , who won the league ' s Most Valuable Player award , they defeated the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXI , and in 1990 , they defeated the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XXV . The decision to put football matters in the hands of Young was a key factor in those victories ; 19 of the 22 Giants starters in Super Bowl XXI , plus the team ' s kicker and punter , were acquired after Young took over as GM . The 1990 season and Super Bowl win marked the end of an era for the Giants . Shortly after the win , defensive coordinator Bill Belichick left to become head coach of the Cleveland Browns , and Parcells decided in the spring of 1991 to leave the Giants for a career in broadcasting . There was also an ownership change in what had been one of the most stable front offices in professional sports . In February 1991 , after being diagnosed with Cancer , Tim Mara sold his 50 % interest in the team to Bob Tisch for a reported $ 80 million . The sale was actually worked out before the Super Bowl but not announced until afterwards , so as to avoid distracting the team . It marked the first time since their inception in 1925 that the Giants had not been wholly owned and controlled by the Mara family . Tisch was technically the team ' s co - chief executive at first , however given his lack of football knowledge he chose to defer to Wellington Mara on football decisions in his initial seasons with the club . Although he later took a more active role in making decisions related to the football side of the team , in general , Tisch concentrated on the financial aspects , while Mara focused on the on - field product . After leading the league in attendance in 2001 , the Giants finished second to Washington from 2002 to 2005 . On October 25 , 2005 , Giants patriarch Wellington Mara died after a brief illness , at the age of 89 . Mara had been involved with the Giants since he was nine years old , when he was a ball boy for the team . Mara was universally beloved by the players . Hall of Fame linebacker Harry Carson , who played during some of the team ' s down years in the 1970s , never became angry at Mara despite being frustrated with the team ' s performances . " The Giants ’ organization cares about its players more than most teams in the NFL . This stems from the top . The Maras are family men and Wellington , especially , has sought to cultivate a family atmosphere in the team . . . If any NFL owner deserves a championship , it is Mara . " According to Parcells , Wellington made an effort to get to know each of his players . " The Giants are Wellington Mara ’ s whole life , they have been his whole life . He ’ s at the office every day , he ’ s at practice very day , he loves hanging around the locker room and getting to know the players . " Despite his strong religious convictions , he put aside his personal beliefs , and avoided preaching to players who were having problems . " Nobody did more for me than Wellington Mara . " Lawrence Taylor said . " He didn ’ t have to save me , he didn ’ t have to keep helping me to find help . . . And he never lectured me . I could tell he disapproved but he never lectured me . " Several players went to Mara ' s bedside as he was dying to say goodbye to the owner . The team dedicated their next game to Mara , and shut out the Redskins 36 – 0 . Just twenty days after Mara ' s death , on November 15 , 2005 , Tisch died at the age of 79 . He was diagnosed in 2004 with inoperable brain cancer . Tisch was a philanthropist all his life and donated considerable sums of money to charitable causes . After his diagnosis , he donated money to institutions aimed towards the research of drugs and treatments to control brain tumors . In 2010 , the New Meadowlands Stadium opened , replacing Giants Stadium . The new stadium is a 50 / 50 partnership between the Giants and Jets , and while the stadium is owned by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority on paper , the two teams jointly built the stadium using private funds , and administer it jointly through New Meadowlands Stadium Corporation . The Giants had previously planned a $ 300 - million renovation to the Meadowlands , before deciding in favor of the new stadium which was originally estimated to cost approximately $ 600 million , before rising to an estimated cost of $ 1 . 2 billion . One advantage gained by owning the stadium is that the teams saved considerable money in tax payments , leasing the land from the state at a cost of $ 6 . 3 million per year . The state paid for all utilities , including the $ 30 million needed to install them . Both teams received $ 150 million loans from the NFL to pay for construction of the stadium . Representatives from the league ' s teams voted 30 – 2 in favor of the loan . The Giants are currently owned and operated by John K . Mara and Steve Tisch — the sons of Wellington Mara and Bob Tisch . Mara had run the day - to - day operations under Bob Tisch ' s supervision in the years leading up to his father ' s death . " Forbes " magazine estimates the 2010 value of the team at $ 1 . 183 billion . This ranks them fourth in the 30 team league in terms of value . The value has steadily increased from $ 288 million in 1998 , to the current value . The magazine estimated their revenue in 2004 at $ 175 million , of which $ 43 million came from gate receipts . Operating revenue was $ 26 . 7 million , and player salary was $ 97 million . The team finished second to the Redskins in the NFL in attendance in 2006 , 2007 , and 2008 , drawing 628 , 910 , 629 , 848 , and 632 , 554 respectively . They fell to third behind the Cowboys and Redskins in 2009 with 629 , 615 . Before the 2010 season , " Forbes " estimated the team ' s value at $ 1 . 2 billion dollars . As of 2010 , major sponsors include Gatorade , Anheuser Busch , Toyota , Timex , and Verizon Wireless . Recent former sponsors include Miller Brewing and North Fork Bank . Game day concessions are provided by Aramark , and the Giants average ticket price is $ 90 .