Why Tom Brady’s Raiders Ownership Won’t Greatly Affect His Job Calling Games for Fox

Brady is now a minority owner of the Raiders in addition to being Fox's top NFL analyst. How will that work?

Brady has set himself up in the perfect situation. / Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Tom Brady is now a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders. This will have an impact on his broadcasting job with FOX. At least on paper. In reality and with a nod in the direction of nihilism, I don't think all of the NFL-imposed restrictions will change anything or be meaningful in anyway.

Here all of those are, helpfully laid out in graphic form.

Here’s how it’s going to impact his day-to-day life with his broadcasting gig 👀

(via @SethWickersham) pic.twitter.com/JUSORiNwxI

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 15, 2024

You might think not being permitted to be in another team's facility will make it harder for Brady to do his job. You might think not being able to witness another team's practice, attend broadcast production meetings and criticizing game officials and other clubs will also make it more difficult.

In actuality, all of these things are easily sidestepped. FOX has a capable team that can fill him in on all the missed meetings and walkthroughs. Brady hasn't shown much interest in being overtly critical through his first six weeks in the broadcast booth so he's not exactly leaving content on the table there. What all of these obstacles will do, however, is make it harder for Brady to do his job at an elite level.

But before you start thinking hey, that's something, know that it is not. Call me a joyless cynic but I don't think it matters to many people—including those who have vested interest in the $375 million contact—if Brady ever becomes an elite analyst. He just has to be Tom Brady and be good enough to not be a distraction. And to be fair, some very smart industry people believe that he's already at that point.

So you will hear a lot of questions about how Brady will continue to do his job even as there seems to be some active—and understandable—defense being played against him. I think the answer to those are actually quite boring. He's just going to plow ahead, gradually getting more comfortable on-air. He may have to rely on the help of others more than some other analysts as they relay him information he's not intended to be privy to in real-time but when you sign a special talent and take a special chance on someone with such huge upside, there's a willingness to be flexible.

Perhaps the more appropriate question to ask is one that existed before his ownership stake became official. Is Brady into announcing for the long haul? Will he work all 10 years on his deal or will his myriad other interests ultimately pull him in another direction. That remains to be seen.

For now, though, it feels like it's just going to be business as usual on Sunday even if the prep week looks a bit differently than it does for others out of necessity.

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