How They Got Their Name: New York Giants

1000logos.net

Have you ever wondered why some professional sports teams have the same nickname as a different professional sports team?  Well, such is the case for football’s New York Giants and baseball’s San Francisco Giants.  And actually, the two are directly related.  Before moving to San Francisco in 1957, MLB’s Giants were the New York Giants.  They were founded in 1883 and played their home games at the Polo Grounds, in Upper Manhattan.  In 1925, Tim Mara purchased New York’s first professional football team for a sum of $500.  With baseball easily being the most popular sport in America, and the Giants being the most popular team in New York, Mara wanted to capitalize on that by naming his new football team the New York Giants.  His hope was that fans of the baseball team would come to support the football team.

The Giants began play in the NFL in 1925, and also played their home games at the famous Polo Grounds, until 1955.  In 1937, to distinguish themselves from the city’s beloved baseball team, the football team changed their name to “The New York Football Giants,” which is actually what it still is today.  Every now and then you may hear an announcer call them by this name and if it sounds odd, you’ll know they really know their history.  And if all of this begs the question, “Where did the New York Giants baseball team get their name from?,” the answer is all of the giant buildings in New York City.

Garett