MARCH 24: Davis offered an update on the Brady situation during the opening day of the league meetings, Maske notes. He confirms, however, that the finance committee has not taken any new action and the matter is still not expected to be on the agenda over the next three days.
MARCH 22: 10 months ago, it was first reported that former NFL great Tom Brady had agreed to buy a stake in the Raiders. After delays resulting from issues over the terms of the sale, it was reported a little over a month ago that those issues had been resolved and that the sale had been cleared for approval, pending a vote at the annual league meetings in Orlando from March 24-27. Now, disputing that latter report, Mark Maske of The Washington Post tells us that the league is no longer expected to vote on the sale next week. 
The newest report didn’t really add any new detail, so suffice it to say that an issue concerning a conflict of interest with Brady’s broadcasting contract with FOX is the likely cause of the holdup. Brady agreed to a 10-year, $375MM deal that will begin in 2024 and position Brady as the network’s No. 1 color commentator alongside top play-by-play man Kevin Burkhardt.
Of course, teams do not want anyone with an ownership stake in a rival outfit having the access and obtaining the inside information that broadcasters often enjoy, but no plans have been made to suggest that his access will be any different than that of his media peers. With no solution imminent, one may assume that this potential conflict of interest remains a key sticking point.
Another aspect of the deal that other league owners reportedly took issue with was the bargain price at which Raiders owner Mark Davis was trying to sell a share of his club to Brady. Although minority pieces of a sports franchise are frequently sold for discounted rates — due to limited partners’ minimal contributions to franchise operations — it was rumored that Davis may have been offering Brady, one of his most-respected confidants, a 70% discount.
It sounded in February as if the purchase price was increased to placate Davis’ fellow owners. The Raiders are valued at $6.2 billion, according to Forbes, and Brady’s ownership group is purchasing a 10% interest, with Brady reportedly putting up roughly seven percent himself. The report from February also indicated that all other hurdles to the sale had been cleared and that an approved vote was expected at the upcoming meeting. Instead, Brady remains in wait as the impending vote delays the sale once again.
“In wait” is a generous term, to be fair, though. Despite claiming that he intends to have a “passive role” in the franchise, Brady has been pretty active without even having a stake in the team. As a confirmed unofficial advisor to Davis, Brady reportedly assisted in the Raiders’ recent head coaching search and advised in the hiring of new offensive coordinator Luke Getsy. If this is what an uninvested Brady looks like, it will be interesting to see what his “passive role” will be in minority ownership.
Brady doing Brady things again, Spygate, deflategate, etc.
Jealous much?
No…..
It’s not jealousy, it’s done with having Brady thrown down your throat for decades at a relentless rate. Thought the world had turned its attention to Maholmes, Kelce, and Swift…. Nope, there’s Brady again.
If Brady wants to own part of a team, he needs to get out of announcing. There’s too much of a conflict of interest.
I’ve been muting sports broadcasters for over a decade now primarily because their commentary is banal to the extreme. I have no idea what special “inside” information they are getting or who the source of that privileged information is but I don’t see any evidence they are sharing that so called valuable knowledge with anyone…especially the broadcast viewers.
More detailed injury reports could be a major benefit
I think teams currently have to provide at least 3 updates a week on the injury status of players. It would be rather difficult for a broadcaster to discover any secret information there.
Muting the TV during games is also beneficial during the numerous timeouts and change of possessions, as the “poor” NFL must make their money with its 4:00 minute commercial breaks.
I still can’t believe that the NFL might be willing to let this happen. It doesn’t matter if it ends up being an issue or not; the problem is that there COULD be an issue.
I worry about people who want to call 911 several times a day because they think something COULD cause an emergency.
As a Raider fan we do not want this guy in our house.
Tom Brady: “But I can teach you guys how to win games using the “tuck” rule”.
No need to qualify it, Brady could help the raiders figure out how to win. Period. Raiders are a joke.
I think Brady is going to be terrible as a color analyst. Fox will be wasting their money.
I could see it going either way. I definitely see him being bad to start. If people can put aside any prior hatred towards him he is a rather likable person, which would suit him in the booth. He’s incredibly detailed and hardworking at whatever he does, so I could see him putting a lot into it and becoming good. Either way, Greg Olsen has been fantastic and should not have been pushed down the totem pole for someone who has never done the job before. Fox did him dirty.
I actually like him. I just find him to be incredibly vanilla and stilted on camera. It’s like he’s always carefully considering every word that comes out of his mouth rather than being conversational. That’s fine for a politician but not good for a color analyst.
Referring to Olsen or Brady? Olsen is full of jock jargon and endless praise, something Jon Gruden excelled at on Monday Night Football.
I just want him to go away.
He still seeks attention more than anyone. Except maybe Rodgers.
Just a thirsty diva.
I hate to defend Brady, but he’s not close to Rodgers. Brady lives somewhere in reality.
And of course, there’s one other guy who has lapped the field.
Bills1, You summed it up perfectly for me. Thanks.
So Brady wants to own part of an NFL franchise… how is that “seeking attention”? It’s a smart business move for a guy that is sitting on tons of cash. If anyone deserves to be a diva it’s him. GOAT QB afterall.
This ignorance just shows that Bills fans are a big joke
Yeah, as opposed to this comment, which is full of analysis and intellect.
I am willing to bet that the bill of sale will equal the estate tax bill that Mark Davis will have to pay when the time comes. The sale of the Broncos and Commanders has proven that there is a market for an NFL Francise.
If the rest of the owners would like some new business investments at the table, it might be a smart move to kick the Brady partnership down the road.
How dare anyone suggest that Tom Brady would ever make nefarious use of ill gotten information about other teams******?
Why are we blaming Brady for what was clearly a front office/head coach system?
Guy is buying high end merchandise out of the back of a van parked on a street corner.
Buyer- Hey, is this stuff stolen?
Seller – Totally.
Buyer- Cool.
What portion of blame should be assigned to each participant in this transaction?
Please share why you think that way ?
Notice how Brady’s biggest fanboys in the national and (especially) New York sports media have been silent on this?
So, Davis stated that there are no new updates and you felt the need to update this article by telling us that there are no new updates??
Can’t blame TB12 for wanting to buy a share of an NFL franchise, it’s one of the best investments around for someone sitting on a ton of cash. But reports say he’s getting a 70% discount. Why would Mark Davis do that? Can’t he find someone willing to pay a higher price?
That’s the exact question that the owners have.
I don’t think the discount being offered is close to 70% but my understanding is Brady is only looking for a 10% ownership stake anyway. He’ll have no more influence in league matters than a guy who holds a single share of Tesla has of impacting Elon Musk’s decisions.
I think that they don’t like the exceptionalism, which is fair. While they all say nice things about him, all of the owners probably don’t want to deal with Brady, or fundamentally have concerns over his broadcasting role. I doubt that they enjoy dealing with media magnets as is, even without any competitive concerns. I imagine that the biggest fear would be the concern that this would set a precedent for owners “letting in” certain special figures at huge discounts without the other owners getting a say or feeling like the person hasn’t paid his/her dues. That’s what I think it actually is, for most of them.
Remember, most of those owners have minority owners as well, and those people may not appreciate Brady getting a huge discount that they did not, football legend or no.
The owners don’t like exceptionalism unless they can make a profit from it. Then they are happy as a clam. These people are total hypocrites. Their attitude of not “letting in” certain types is a disgraceful throwback to the times when jews or blacks weren’t admitted to country clubs. The Old Boy Network of privileged elitists needs to be trashed once and for all.
I don’t think that it’s necessarily about origins these days as much as it is about feeling secure with who they add. I agree that they’re hypocritical in many ways, but they don’t particularly care about that. Owners like security, in the same way that most corporate entities do. The greater the unknown, the greater chance for risk. I think that they want to see how the person does business, too. Getting the exorbitant funding together to buy a stake or a team is part of looking responsible business-wise. As much of a known commodity as Brady is in terms of fame, I doubt that he’s done enough business with the owners to make them comfortable. The minority owners also probably resent that Brady gets an easy way in, or have similar questions themselves.
I don’t have much emotion towards this side of the debate-these are businesspeople and I certainly don’t feel any obligation to “owe” them money. But I do know that people will mostly do business with those that they know, and those that they think do business smartly and responsibly. Part of showing that, in an NFL sense, is being able to put up the funds to invest in a franchise. I think that they care more about the money and the comfortability more than anything else. The owners have always been hesitant to let people into their club, and I don’t think that any exclusive group is any different. Also, I don’t think that we can expect Brady’s influence to be in line with his ownership share. If he were to be just a simple 10% owner, Davis wouldn’t have offered such an exclusive discount.
Ownership in a pro sports franchise really is a privileged business license. Not everyone can get it. It’s an investment with a goal to maximize profit. Bringing on anyone that can tarnish the image or reduxe profits is what the NFL or its minority owners don’t want.
Correct. It’s just an investment for a guy that has too much cash, that doesnt carry any risk. I don’t see how announcing can be a problem. Most announcers gloss over players to the point it’s sickening.
It’s less the calling games and more the production meetings and interviews, although the announcing does also offer an additional overlooking view and analysis that teams wouldn’t normally have access to. I think that the more I looked at it, the less it became “why is announcing such a problem?” and more “why would they make such an exception?”
Goodell’s master plan is to expand into foreign markets right? How exactly can that work if the the current ownership group clings to an outdated mindset of “we can’t allow exceptions”?
Only thing I can see is a conflict of interest. As a minority NFL owner, he’s allied to the NFL and not Fox. He should probably take the Fox money and buy a stake in a soccer team.