New York Giants: A Celebration 100 Years in the Making

Such is the case with the New York Giants, one of the league’s oldest and most storied franchises. On August 1, 2024, the team will officially celebrate its 100th year in existence, having grown from an entity first founded in 1925 by bookmaker Timothy Mara for the “bargain” price of $500 into a billion-dollar corporation that has won eight NFL championships, including four in the pre-Super Bowl era.

As the Giants get ready for the start of a new season which will hopefully see the team get back on track after over a decade of ups and downs, the team, which has already unveiled a commemorative  100-anniversary logo and has also announced a special throwback uniform for their Week 1 regular-season opener against the Minnesota Vikings, is gearing up for its latest big initiative: A Night with Legends, presented by Verizon which will be held on Thursday, June 20 at the Theater at Madison Square Garden beginning at 6:30 p.m..

 Attendees will be treated to a display of artifacts from the team’s history, including the busts of its Hall of Fame enshrinees on loan from the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the four Lombardi trophies.

There will also be three-foot wall posters across the entire theater, with photos from 1927 to the last Super Bowl..

Attendees will get a sneak peek at the upcoming Hard Knocks series, which will debut on HBO on July 2. They will also hear from general manager Joe Schoen, head coach Brian Daboll, and others from the team. Proceeds from the event will go toward the Giants Foundation.

In an interview with the Locked On Giants podcast, Nilay Shah, the Giants’ senior vice president of marketing and brand strategy revealed that the year-long anniversary programming is based on four objectives.

“The first one was we needed to make sure we celebrated all 100 seasons. The second thing that we aligned on was the fact that we needed to figure out how to tell our story on a national level. The third is we want to make sure we have unique activations for all our constituents,” Shah said.

“And the fourth–this organization is not gratuitous by nature, but if there was ever a year to highlight all the great work that this organization has done in the community over the last 100 seasons and will continue to do this would be the year to put a PR and marketing touch to it to really make sure that everyone understood from a historical, historical perspective the great work that has and will continue to be done in the community.”

The process is a result of a collaborative effort between the organization’s employees and the players, both past and present.

“These types of celebrations usually start as a marketing project, but you’ll quickly realize to do this the right way and to have it impact the entire organization has to be on board,” Shah said.

“So, we had biweekly meetings for over two years where every single leader in each respective department was weighing in so that way when we got to the end, everyone really felt good about it.”

Another of the year-long campaign’s crown jewels is the upcoming 100 all-time greatest Giants list, which is not an easy task for an organization that has not only had thousands of players represent the franchise on the field since its inception but has also valued everyone.

The list was compiled based on the feedback of an independent council of national and local historians and media members who ranked the greatest Giants in the franchise’s history. The plan, according to Shah, is to reveal those players in groups of 10 starting in July and leading into the home opener.

“The reactions that we have got have been incredible,” Shah said of the list. “The feelings that these players and legends have for the organization — I think Wellington Mara said it best: ‘Once a Giant, always a Giant.’ 

“And that still rings true, that you’re able to call these players who have not worn a jersey for 30 years and for them to be feeling the way that they are, it’s a testament to this organization and, and the family nature that it’s always been.”

Also coming up for the Giants is its debut on Hard Knocks, the five-part series focusing on the Giants off-season through mandatory minicamp.

“We’re excited for that,” Shah said. “We sat in a room, and we said, ‘Hey, how do we tell our story on a national level?’ (General manager) Joe (Schoen) and Dabes (head coach Brian Daboll) have been great to us, giving us all levels of access that we’ve requested.”

Among the other things on the schedule is a special documentary on Wellington “The Duke” Mara, which will debut in late October on the NFL Network. A commemorative anniversary book capturing the franchise’s rich history will also be available for purchase starting in September.

And there is, of course, limited edition merchandise available commemorating the team’s anniversary, with more still to come.

Shah teased that there are even more things still to come that he hopes fans will revel in. For more information on all the programming and events, fans should check out giants.com/100.