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The NFL’s New York Giants and New York Jets could be forced to change their names to the New Jersey Giants and New Jersey Jets, if two particularly disgruntled fans somehow get their way in court.
The New York Post reports that two fans originally filed a $6 billion class-action lawsuit demanding that both NFL franchises return to New York City, but they have since amended the lawsuit to demand that the Giants and the Jets both drop “New York” from their names.
While the two fans are extremely unlikely to win this legal battle and force both teams to change their names, let’s hear their arguments.
“New York City is the Big Apple, home of the Statue of Liberty, … Wall Street and the stock market, Broadway musicals ticker-tape parades …” the amended lawsuit states, per the New York Post. “MetLife Stadium is located in the swamps of East Rutherford, NJ …, which has a population under 10,000, the 116th largest city in New Jersey. It’s not exactly an exciting and romantic destination[,] and the Giants, Jets and MetLife Stadium have absolutely no connection whatsoever with the city, county or state of New York.”
The two plaintiffs behind the lawsuit are Abdiell Suero and Maggie Wilkins, according to the New York Post. They are alleging that the Giants and Jets use “false advertising and other fraudulent deceptive practices” to make fans think they play in New York and not New Jersey.
That allegation may be partially true, as even the team’s first-round draft pick Evan Neal (who is from Florida and played in college at Alabama) didn’t know the Giants’ home stadium is in New Jersey.
“What stood out to me the most, I didn’t even know the Giants were in Jersey,” Neal said after the team drafted him with the seventh-overall pick on April 30 (via Doug Rush of The Giants Wire). “So that was new to me. I thought they were in New York.”
The New York Post report claims that the Giants and Jets made legal filings to have the lawsuit dismissed last month.
The Giants and Jets’ Home Stadium History
While the lawsuit alleges that the Giants and Jets have “no connection whatsoever” with the City of New York, that is only true if you discount the historical connection. The Giants played in New York City from 1925-1973 (and returned for one season in 1975), and the Jets played in the city from 1960-1983.
The Giants played their first 31 seasons (1925-1955) at the Polo Grounds in Upper Manhattan, then moved to Yankee Stadium in the Bronx for the next 18 seasons (1956-1973). They played two seasons (1973-74) at the Yale Bowl in New Haven, Connecticut, then played one season (1975) at Shea Stadium in Queens before settling at Giants Stadium in New Jersey for the 1976 season. MetLife Stadium replaced Giants Stadium at the Meadowlands in 2010, and that’s where Big Blue has played home games ever since.
The Jets originally competed in the rival AFL and played home games at the Polo Grounds from 1960-1963. They moved to Shea Stadium in 1964 and stayed there until 1984, when they made the jump and joined the Giants in New Jersey.
Other NFL Teams That Don’t Play in their City
The Giants and Jets are far from the only NFL teams that do not play in the city they’re named after. Other such teams include the Los Angeles Rams and Chargers (Inglewood, California), San Francisco 49ers (Santa Clara, California), Las Vegas Raiders (Paradise, Nevada), Dallas Cowboys (Arlington, Texas), Washington Commanders (Landover, Maryland) and Buffalo Bills (Orchard Park, New York).
While the Giants and Jets are often singled out because they play in a different state than the one they say they’re from, East Rutherford, New Jersey, is less than 15 miles from Manhattan. Santa Clara, for example, is over 45 miles away from San Francisco.
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