Tom Brady Reportedly Faces TV Restrictions Amid Raiders Ownership Bid
Tom Brady is set for his first season as an NFL broadcaster, but his FOX Sports career might not go as smoothly as he hopes.
While the New England Patriots Hall of Famer prepares for his NFL broadcast debut, he also is still trying to gain an ownership stake in the Las Vegas Raiders. Brady already is a part-owner of the Las Vegas Aces, another team owned by Mark Davis, and he's a celebrity owner of English Championship side Birmingham F.C.
However, if Brady is approved as a part-owner the NFL plans to implement restrictions on his broadcasting career. According to ESPN's Seth Wickersham, NFL owners Tuesday discussed those restrictions in a meeting in Minneapolis.
"The league confirmed to ESPN that among the restrictions, Brady would not be permitted to be in another team's facility, would not be permitted to witness practice and would not be permitted to attend broadcast production meetings, either in person or virtually," Wickersham wrote.
As Wickersham described in his Wednesday report, speaking with coaches and key players often is the "lifeblood of insight for the telecast." These restrictions were reportedly presented in a slide titled "Brady -- Broadcast Restrictions." and would not affect other members of the FOX broadcast.
If Brady is approved for a minority stake in the Raiders, he'd also be subjected to ownership restrictions. It means he would be prohibited from publicly criticizing game officials and other clubs; if he goes too far in his critiques, he would be subject to fines or even a suspension. He would be subject to the league's gambling policy. And he would be subject to the league's anti-tampering policies meaning he's permitted to only "strictly social communication with members of other clubs," according to the slide, per Wickersham.
The precedent for these rules came in 2017 when Greg Olsen, whose main color analyst role Brady will take, was still with the Panthers and was restricted access during a Vikings game because Carolina was slated to play Minnesota later that season.
These are complicated rules that likely is a message from the league to Brady for the 47-year-old to either be a broadcaster or minority owner but not both.