Now that he’s retired from his playing career, legendary quarterback Tom Brady is attempting to take a new role in the NFL as an owner in the league, but he can’t seem to get league approval.
Back in the summer, Tom Brady agreed to become a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders and he just needed approval from the NFL owners to finalize the sale. He hasn’t gotten that approval yet, and when the NFL held an ownership meeting this week, another meeting went by where Brady was not approved.
“No, we never talked about that,” Indianapolis Colts team owner Jim Irsay told Jori Epstein of Brady’s situation.
Re: Tom Brady acquiring minority stake in Raiders, sounds like no movement at league meeting.
Jim Irsay: “No, we never talked about that.”
Irsay, who’s on finance committee that needs to approve Brady, said “the number just had to be a reasonable number for purchase price.”
— Jori Epstein (@JoriEpstein) October 18, 2023
Irsay is a member of the finance committee that needs to approve the sale for Brady to officially become an owner, and he seemed to express concern about the price Brady was offered for the sale, saying “the number just had to be a reasonable number for purchase price.”
As Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk points out, there are several reasons why the sale has not been approved yet, and none of them are really optimistic for Brady.
“There seem to be many potential reasons for the failure to rubber stamp Brady’s acquisition of what is believed to be five of 10 percent of the Raiders. From the new rule against giving equity to employees (which Davis spoke out against at the meeting it was adopted) to Brady’s upcoming broadcasting career with Fox to ‘a discount of as much as approximately 70 percent’ in the price charged by Davis to Brady, there are various grounds for hesitation,” Florio wrote for Pro Football Talk.
All in all, it’s a pretty brutal situation for Brady, and the NFL world had a lot to say about it.
The NFL doesn't seem willing to do this, but they should find a way where former players AND fans can own a percentage of their favorite teams. Not necessarily to have controlling interest, but a portion allocated for this. The Atlanta Braves technically do this already
— JAYFORCE (@Jayforce) October 19, 2023
You mean they aren’t getting a big enough cut of it lol
— Ball Don’t Lie (@LeanderMock) October 19, 2023
Not seeing how this violates rule of reason for anti trust. All NFL teams have their value tied to their relationship to the league itself. There is no stand alone value for a team. If you own a time share, they don’t let you sell too cheaply. Same principle.
— Steve Robbins (@Redblue88) October 19, 2023
Brady looks less and less like Brady every picture I see
— Matthew (@m_rayner) October 19, 2023
Rumor has it that it also is a problem with the @NFL on Brady working the booth for the NFL games as well and being a part Owner
— Sir Sgt. Stedenko 🔺 (@YodaFett_007) October 19, 2023
How is that not a violation of anti-trust laws?
— Hound (@ffhound7) October 19, 2023
[Pro Football Talk, Jori Epstein]
