Eli Manning may not be done as a Giant just yet.
The two-time Super Bowl MVP, who missed out on his first try for the Pro Football Hall of Fame earlier this month, said Friday he would have “interest” in being part of a group that purchased a stake in the Giants.
The team announced Thursday that the Mara and Tisch families had retained a banker to “explore the potential sale of a minority, non-controlling stake” in the franchise.
“It’s definitely something of interest,” Manning said during an interview on CNBC Sport.
“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’ve just got to figure out if they would ever sell a little bit.”
The Giants became just the latest team to look into selling a small portion of the team after the NFL in August began to allow private equity investment to buy up to 10 percent of each franchise.
Manning wouldn’t be the first retired quarterback to take the plunge into NFL ownership, with his old rival, Tom Brady, having been part of a group that acquired a 10 percent stake in the Las Vegas Raiders in October.
Additionally, the Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins and the Super Bowl-winning Philadelphia Eagles have all sold small portions of their franchises since last year.
This wouldn’t be Manning’s first foray into ownership, as he’s already a minority owner of NJ/NY Gotham FC in the National Women’s Soccer League.
Complicating matters, though, could be the fact that the private equity firm where Manning is a partner, Brand Velocity Group, is not one of the firms so far approved by the NFL to purchase a minority stake.
The Giants recently were valued at $7.3 billion by Forbes and $7.85 billion by CNBC.
That would mean the 10-percent stake would be somewhere in the $750 million range. Manning made $252 million in his 15-year Giants career.
In 1991, Bob Tisch bought a 50 percent stake in the club from the Maras.
Since the passing of partners Tisch and Wellington Mara in 2005, the team has been under the control of their sons, John Mara and Steve Tisch, respectively, on behalf of their families.
John also serves as team president, and the daily operation of the club will remain unchanged.
As for Manning, he’s staying busy in retirement, with his work on the “Manningcast” on ESPN with his brother, Peyton, as well as plenty of commercials.
“I think my quest post-football is trying to find that passion and find something similar that I can work towards or am truly committed to,” Manning said on CNBC. “I kind of feel like I get to start over a little bit, and I’m enjoying that learning process of figuring out what else I’m passionate about.”
