Steve Tisch supposedly has given up his ownership interest in the Giants. He’s still acting as if he partially owns the team.
And the NFL is fine with that.
On Wednesday, Commissioner Roger Goodell was asked about Tisch’s presence at the NFL’s quarterly ownership meetings. “I think we’re comfortable with him participating as the Giants suggest,” Goodell said.
Although Tisch no longer holds equity in Giants (his interest was transferred to his children’s trust), he continues to serve as te team’s chairman of the board. He was present in the team’s draft room. He has been at games.
Tisch’s role came into question once the Epstein files revealed a series of emails between Tisch and Jeffrey Epstein. Subsequent reporting raised questions regarding whether Epstein was arranging dates for Tisch, and whether Tisch was possibly using his influence in the film industry to leverage an exchange of favors.
Goodell, in March, cited Tisch’s exit from ownership when discussing the NFL’s investigation of Tisch. Goodell has repeatedly said it has no evidence of wrongdoing by Tisch. There’s no evidence, however, that the NFL has attempted to gather any such evidence. It’s possible the league simply hoped to run out the clock and wait for the topic to change. As it often does.
Regarding Tisch, the league hasn’t done anything. At this point, it likely won’t. The emails alone were enough to get the league to nudge Tisch to the sideline. The league, Tisch, and the Giants seemed to believe that Tisch giving to his children now the equity they would have inevitably inherited was enough to end the issue. As long as Tisch continues to be conspicuous when it comes to league and team events, the issue remains.