The team was organized in 1905 by the owner of the popular Brooklyn Royal Cafe. During the 1910s the Royal Giants fielded exceptionally strong teams and ,though they participated in no organized league, claimed four championship of the East between 1909 and 1916.

In 1923 the Royal Giants became a charter team in the newly formed Eastern Colored League where they continued to play through 1927. Returning to independent play in 1928, the team continued through the early 1940s with diminishing fortunes. By the time the team disbanded in 1943 it had deterioriated to semipro status and was no longer a credible force in professional black baseball.