It was recently reported that the greatest quarterback of all time, Tom Brady, had purchased a stake in the Las Vegas Raiders. This report was eventually confirmed by the Raiders themselves, with owner Mark Davis releasing a statement and saying that Brady’s ownership was now pending NFL approval.
Athletes retiring and then buying stakes in teams is nothing new, as it has been happening recently in many different sports. Most of the time, said player is buying an extremely small amount of the team and aren’t really involved in any of the actual running and functioning of the franchise. But that may not be the case with Brady and the Raiders.
The percentage of the Raiders purchased by Brady remains unknown, but according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, it is believed that Brady is purchasing more than just a “ceremonial” piece of the Raiders franchise.
So we started poking around a little. Per a source with general knowledge of the situation, Brady is believed to be buying something more than a ceremonial sliver of the Raiders.
This is an interesting tidbit, if true, as it would seem to signify that Brady isn’t just satisfied with being able to say he owns part of an NFL team and bringing in the money that comes along with it. On the contrary, it looks as if Brady really wants to be involved in certain processes and decisions.
With Brady also purchasing a piece of the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces, another team owned by Mark Davis, it may be a case of the two really wanting to do business together. Many owners sell off small pieces, but it is unusual for a larger chunk to be sold off like this, and only leads to more questions.
The biggest of those is undoubtedly whether this is setting the foundation for Brady to potentially succeed Davis as the controlling owner of the Raiders down the line. His foot is already in the door, and Brady can always purchase more shares of the team down the line if he really wants to.
But even with all of the money he made in his career both on and off the field, Brady still would need a whole lot more money to take a controlling stake. Nothing is known for sure, but the partnership between Brady and Davis is something that will be watched closely moving forward as it could possibly lead to something bigger.