Goodell: Tisch Is No Longer Giants Owner, No Policy Violation

New York Giants chairman Steve Tisch is no longer part of NFL team ownership, as league commissioner Roger Goodell confirmed the executive’s exit, but there hasn’t been any further action under the league’s personal conduct policy. 

Tisch was recently revealed to have had extensive ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Following that disclosure, he put in motion a plan to transfer ownership to his children’s trusts, as did his siblings, Laurie and Jonathan. Those transactions have been approved by the league, but notably, the Tisch siblings are retaining their Giants front-office roles. 

Steve is EVP and chairman of the board, Laurie is a board director, and Jonathan is the treasurer and a board director, according to the Giants’ website. The Tisch family has been involved with the Giants since the siblings’ father bought a 50% stake in the franchise from the Mara family in 1991. 

As the NFL completed its annual meeting in Phoenix this week, Goodell said the league’s inquiry into the matter has not uncovered a violation of the personal conduct policy. 

“As we said [prior to Super Bowl LX], we were going to follow the facts,” Goodell said. “We have been doing that. We’ve been very focused on making sure we understand everything that’s out there. We’ve engaged with others to make sure we have that information. As you know, the Tisch family also made some family changes. Steve and Jon and Laurie actually did some transactions as part of their estate planning. They’re no longer owners. But we have not found anything that’s a violation at this stage.”

Not surprisingly, Tisch did not attend the annual meeting.

While the team’s transition has unfolded, newly hired head coach John Harbaugh said his dialogue with ownership has “just been about football, really.” Giants co-owner John Mara, a key partner to the Tisch family in the franchise, is also battling cancer. 

“The ongoing dialogue has been about the things that we’re doing, the moves that we’re making,” Harbaugh said in response to a Front Office Sports question. “John [Mara] has been very involved in everything that we do. [Senior player personnel executive] Chris [Mara] has been very involved in everything that we do. We have a really good line of communication, and the way that we’re operating is really natural and normal. It’s exactly what we talked about, from the beginning [of contract negotiations]. So I feel great about it.”