Wilf Family Celebrates 20 Years as Vikings Owners

When the Minnesota Vikings kicked off their 2024 season this past Sunday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., against the New York Giants, brothers Zygi and Mark Wilf, co-owners of the fabled Vikings franchise for the past 20 seasons, couldn’t help but harken back to how they first became enamored of football by rooting for the Giants in rickety bleacher seats at old Yankee Stadium on the other side of the George Washington Bridge.

The Wilfs, whose parents, Joseph and Elizabeth, had fled Europe after World War II to settle in New Jersey, were, along with their children, heavily invested in the fortunes of the Giants. Starting in 1959, the family had season tickets at wherever the Giants called home — Yankee Stadium, Yale Bowl, Shea Stadium, and ultimately Giants Stadium where they leased an end zone luxury box starting in its inaugural 1976 season.

“For my parents and my family, watching football was a big part of our growing up and my parents becoming part of the American Dream, part of this great country,” Wilf said in speaking with the Atlanta Jewish Times in late August. “Football embodies this country more than anything else as far as a sport.”

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The father, Joseph, who passed away in 2016 at the age of 91, came of age in 1920s Poland and during the Holocaust, was deported with his brother, Harry, and parents to a Siberian work camp, where they ultimately survived, while his sister, Bella, perished in the Warsaw Ghetto. When post-World War II antisemitic pogroms erupted in Poland, the Wilfs immigrated to America; soon thereafter Joseph and Harry settled down to have families and founded Garden Homes, a corporation that would emerge as one of America’s most prominent real estate development firms, of which Mark and Zygi eventually became executives.

When the Wilfs parlayed their amassed commercial real estate wealth toward becoming NFL owners in 2005, the Vikings franchise was bumbling through a series of humiliations that included former head coach Mike Tice’s $100,000 fine for scalping Super Bowl tickets and the notorious boat party scandal in which over a dozen players came under investigation by the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office for alleged sexual misconduct on a cruise on Lake Minnetonka.

However, in the two decades since, the NFL approved of the sale to the Wilf family (multiple relatives including cousin Leonard Wilf, owner/vice chairman, sit atop the masthead), the Vikings’ leaguewide reputation and fortunes have improved drastically. Though still in search of that elusive first-ever Super Bowl title, the Vikings have moved into their gorgeous Super Bowl-hosting U.S. Bank Stadium, drafted well – fifth-year wideout Justin Jefferson is one of the NFL’s most electric playmakers – and garnered recognition for providing team personnel with a first-rate work environment as evidenced by the high marks received in the NFL Players’ Association survey.

“We’re really proud of things we’ve been able to accomplish,” added Wilf, whose ownership group has prioritized, among other initiatives, providing gameday childcare and assistance with finding local housing to everyone up and down the 53-man roster. “We want to make sure we are a first-class organization. It was really important to create consistency on an annual basis. We want the players to know we care about them.

“It’s a testament to the people we have. It’s nice to have validation. We believe it’s about people in the building. I know our fans and community would want the same. We view ourselves as stewards of a great franchise.”

It also happens to be one that was rocked by tragedy and misfortune this summer. Before this milestone season for the Wilf family unfolded, the organization received horrific news over July 4th weekend when 24-year-old rookie cornerback Khyree Jackson was among three people killed in a car accident in Maryland. In response, the Vikings organization contributed more than $20,000 toward funeral expenses and paid out the remainder of Jackson’s signing bonus to his estate.

“It’s certainly an extremely tragic situation,” reflected Wilf. “I know we experienced it very much together as a team. I’m just so proud of how everyone responded in terms of supporting his family. I know it’s a business, but to us the Vikings are a family. Khyree was a member of this family. We wanted to make a difference for his family in any way we could.”

Just over a month later, rookie first-round quarterback J.J. McCarthy, considered by many to be the future of the franchise, was shelved for the entire regular season with a torn right meniscus that would necessitate surgery. With McCarthy’s rookie season over before it even began, journeyman Sam Darnold was left to pilot the star-crossed Vikes through what promises to be a rigorous NFC North division.

“This time of year, there is always a heightened level of excitement,” offered Wilf. “We think our roster is much improved. We’re excited about this season and the direction of this team. We have bright existing stars and newcomers like Sam Darnold and rookies and free agents. We’re in a very competitive division and our goal is to go out starting Week 1 in New York and win games and ultimately compete for a championship.”

As his family’s 20th anniversary season rolls on following Minnesota’s impressive Week 1 28-6 win (the Vikings host the Falcons on Dec. 8) Mark remains heavily engaged in Jewish philanthropic causes. In July 2022, following a four-year run as Chair of the Board of Trustees for the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA), he was appointed as Chairman of the Board of Governors of The Jewish Agency for Israel, the impetus for which he refers to as “making sure there’s a strong state of Israel that can safeguard the ability of the Jewish community to practice and have a safe haven in the world.”

As children and grandchildren of Holocaust survivors, Mark and Zygi continue to ensure that the Jewish and Israeli philanthropic legacy of their late father, who was a founder of the American Society for Yad Vashem, a U.S.-based fundraising arm for the Israeli Holocaust Museum, and a chief benefactor behind Yeshiva University’s Wilf campus in New York City, endures as the years pass.

Acknowledged Mark, “One thing very clear to us growing up is had there been a state of Israel during those dark days, the families of millions who were murdered would have been changed.”