NFL owners stepped in last year to block Tom Brady from becoming a limited owner with the Las Vegas Raiders. As owner Mark Davis and Las Vegas cash in from the massive economic impact of Super Bowl LVIII, Brady is reportedly poised to become an NFL owner.
Months after retiring from the NFL for the second time, Brady had a handshake agreement with Davis to become a limited stakeholder in the Raiders’ franchise. While terms weren’t disclosed, the teal was expected to follow the future Hall of Famer’s deal to become a partial owner of the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces.
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However, every sale of a stake in an NFL team requires approval from the league. Team owners were adamantly opposed to the deal, pushing back on the bargain price Brady was prepared to pay Davis for the ownership stake. Less than a year later, circumstances have changed.
According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport, Brady is officially on track to become a limited partner of the Raiders. NFL owners got what they wanted, with Brady and Davis reworking the deal to reflect a more modern valuation of an NFL team in Las Vegas.
As of now, per NFL Network, the formal agreement is expected to be submitted to the NFL’s Financial Committee on March 4 or 5 for a meeting in New York. If everything checks out with the committee, the agreement will officially be approved by team owners at the NFL Annual League Meetings (March 24-27).
Brady isn’t the only one involved in the investment. As first reported by Sportico’s Eben Novy-Williams, Brady is splitting the deal with Knighthead Capital co-founder Tom Wagner. In the agreement, Wagner is purchasing a 10 percent stake in the Raiders’ franchise with Brady buying 7 percent of that stake.
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The official approval of the deal will also definitely shut the door on Brady ever unretiring, with NFL rules stating that no active player can have an ownership stake in a team. However, Brady is already preparing for his next career having done months of prep work and studying in advance of becoming Fox’s top NFL analyst in its lead broadcast booth next season.
