Numerous National Football League insiders reported Friday morning that seven-time Super Bowl champion quarterback Tom Brady is in serious discussions to become a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders. This revelation comes after Brady signed a 10-year contract to serve as the color commentator in its lead NFL booth alongside play-by-play announcer Kevin Burkhardt, a role he will begin at the start of the 2024 season.
Brady has reportedly received permission from FOX to go forward with his ownership pursuits. Additionally, his involvement, if the deal is closed, is expected to be ‘passive.’ He would not be directly involved in the day-to-day activities of the organization related to business or football operations. Brady expects to be working for FOX, as he called a New York Post report of him reconsidering the decision “fake news.”
The NFL has a policy that prohibits team ownership when being employed by a media outlet, but that only applies if the person is in a position of authority at the entity. That safeguard was put into place to prevent conflicts of interest in media rights negotiations, which will not happen again for the NFL for the remainder of the decade. FOX’s new pact with the NFL runs through 2033 and reportedly is worth $2 billion annually, and it includes the rights to the Super Bowl to decide the outcome of the 2024, 2028 and 2032 seasons.
In this case, Brady would be a broadcaster rather than an executive; therefore, the league’s media policy would not apply to him. As a result, he would be able to call national games and serve as a minority owner of the Raiders. Brady had previously engaged in talks about becoming a minority owner of the Miami Dolphins, and he recently became a minority owner of the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces.
Alex Rodríguez, for example, is a minority owner of the Minnesota Timberwolves and will be a majority owner of the team, along with businessman Marc Lore, by 2024. Although he is involved in the organization, he still works as a studio analyst with FOX Sports and co-host of Sunday Night Baseball with KayRod on ESPN.
As it pertains to the National Football League, there were discussions as to whether Peyton Manning would be able to continue broadcasting select Monday Night Football games with his brother Eli if he was to gain a proprietary stake in the Denver Broncos. The deal never materialized though, and it was announced by The Walt Disney Company this week that the ManningCast will make its return for the 2023 NFL season.
