Tom Brady got a sweetheart deal when he bought into the Las Vegas Raiders. Eli Manning? Not so much. The two-time Super Bowl champion discovered what happens when your old team treats you like any other investor instead of franchise royalty.
Why Did the Raiders Give Tom Brady a Discount While the Giants Won’t Help Eli Manning?
When Tom Brady was negotiating to purchase a minority stake in the Las Vegas Raiders, it was clear that he couldn’t afford the original valuation of roughly $3.5 billion despite all the money he made playing football.
So Mark Davis, the Raiders’ majority owner, offered Brady a discounted deal at only a $2.2 billion valuation. That’s a massive break for someone who never even suited up for Las Vegas.
Meanwhile, Brady has started a trend among retired athletes, with many now exploring minority ownership opportunities. One of them is former New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning.
Despite leading the Giants to two Super Bowl titles, Manning said he wasn’t offered a discount and told CNBC Sports that the high price was the main reason he backed out of pursuing a minority ownership stake in the team.
“Basically, it’s too expensive for me,” Manning said. “These numbers are getting very big. A one percent stake in something valued at 10 billion dollars, it turns into a very big number.”
That’s where the story gets interesting. Following Manning’s comments about the valuation being too high, NBC’s Mike Florio wrote an article about the irony of Brady getting a discounted deal from a team he never played for, while Manning can’t even get a hometown discount.
“Speaking of Brady, the fact that the Giants wouldn’t give a two-time Super Bowl winner a sweetheart deal underscores the cool-friend discount Brady got from Raiders owner Mark Davis,” Florio wrote.
What Does This Say About How Teams Value Their Former Stars?
The contrast couldn’t be starker. Brady enters a front office role with the Raiders and gets a deal that saves him over a billion dollars in valuation. Manning, who delivered two championships to New York and beat Brady’s Patriots twice in the Super Bowl, gets told to pay full price like everyone else.
Considering everything he’s done for the franchise, it’s a head-scratcher that the Giants aren’t willing to give Manning a deal. Bringing him back into the organization could be a huge boost, especially for a team that has struggled since his retirement.
The math makes it even more puzzling. If the Raiders could negotiate a discount for a 5% stake with Brady, it’s hard to see why the Giants wouldn’t want to work out a deal for a 1% stake with Manning. The financial commitment would be much smaller, but the symbolic value would be enormous.
However, Manning doesn’t seem too upset about it and appears to hope the right person will purchase the stake. Still, you have to wonder if the Giants are missing an opportunity to bring back one of their most significant players meaningfully.
