Eli Manning passes on chance to own share of Giants: 'Too expensive'

Eli Manning made more than $250 million as an NFL player and has made millions more from other sources. But even he found the business of team ownership too rich for his blood.

On Wednesday, he told CNBC Sport that he no longer is interested in buying a minority stake in the team for which he played quarterback for 16 seasons.

“Basically, it’s too expensive for me,” Manning said. “These numbers are getting very big.”

Even for a mere 1% stake? “A 1% stake valued at $10 billion turns into a very big number,” he said, referring to a bill that would run $100 million.

Recent partial sales valued the Lakers at $10 billion and the Eagles at $8.3 billion. So Manning’s estimate of the Giants’ worth probably is in the right ballpark.

That question will be answered when the 10% of the team currently available is sold. The NFL recently began allowing teams to sell stakes up to 10% to private equity groups.

Manning and Michael Strahan, a fellow former Giants star, had expressed interest in being part of such groups.

“I love the Giants and I think (they are) deserving of that valuation, and there will be people who want to go for it,” Manning said.

Aside from the cost, he was concerned partial ownership would lead to restrictions that would get in the way of his jobs such as broadcasting, coaching in the Pro Bowl and running his football camp.

“There would be a lot of conflicts,” he said. “It was going to affect my day job. So I had to pull out of the Giants deal.”

By Neil Best

neil.best@newsday.com@sportswatch

Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.