Tom Brady’s long road to a minority stake in the Las Vegas Raiders finally has a finish line.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the NFL’s finance committee has reviewed Brady’s offer and plans to put it before the other owners for a vote at Tuesday’s fall meeting in Atlanta. Brady needs votes from at least 24 of the league’s 32 owners.
ESPN is presenting the vote as a formality, as the committee would not put Brady’s ownership stake to a vote if it was not certain he would be approved. If/when Brady is approved, he will become the new owner of about 10% of the Raiders, part of a group that also includes financier Tom Wagner.
Brady originally closed the deal with Raiders majority owner Mark Davis in May 2023, but faced obstacles over concerns he was receiving a significant discount for a stake in a team that Forbes values ​​at $6.7 billion, with some estimating that the former quarterback got a discount. as large as 70%.
He eventually overcame that hurdle by jacking up the price, and now he’s ready to buy into the most lucrative sports league in the world. The Raiders stake is just part of Brady’s growing portfolio, which also includes stakes in the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces, English League One soccer club Birmingham City, the Hertz Team JOTA racing team and a Major League Pickleball franchise.
Brady made more than $300 million in contract money during his playing career, received many more millions in endorsement money and was just starting his $375 million contract to call NFL games for Fox Sports. That job at Fox could present some friction now that he has purchased a franchise, as other teams may understandably be reluctant to share insights into their operations with another team’s minority owner.
Such a situation is not unprecedented, as MLB teams have done something similar with broadcasters who also work as consultants for other teams.
