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Tom Brady, a surefire future Pro Football Hall of Fame player and arguably the greatest player in NFL history, could be on the brink of NFL ownership.
Brady and businessman Tom Wagner, co-founder of Knighthead Capital Management, reached an agreement last year with Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis to buy into the franchise. Their offer will be discussed at the NFL owners meetings on Tuesday in Atlanta, according to a league source. The league’s finance committee will review Brady’s offer and a vote may follow.
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Here’s an explanation of how Brady and the Raiders got here:
What is the process for Brady to become part owner of the Raiders?
Brady and Wagner had to reach an agreement with Davis to purchase a minority stake in the franchise, which they did in May 2023. From there, the bid will be reviewed by the NFL’s finance committee, which was formed last year and consists of owners. The committee decides whether to vote on the offer. If so, the offer would need to be approved by 24 of the NFL’s 32 majority owners.
According to league sources, the agreement between Brady, Wagner and Davis involves a 10 percent stake in the Raiders. CNBC estimated the value of the Raiders last month at $7.8 billionbut that doesn’t mean Brady and Wagner have to pay $780 million.
That’s because an appraisal is based on the estimated price the Raiders would attract if Davis were to sell whole stake. The price Brady and Wagner agreed to with Davis was not disclosed, but will likely be significantly less than 10 percent of the Raiders’ valuation.
How do you pay for, say, a 10 percent stake in an NFL team? Does he have to come up with cash, or is it a payout over a longer period of time?
Brady and Wagner must pay in cash. If they don’t have the full amount in hand, they have to take out a loan.
Why did the process take so long?
It took some time before the final price was determined. According to The Washington Postthe NFL’s finance committee expressed concern last year that Davis was giving Brady and Wagner too big of a cut. The Message reported earlier this month that Brady and Wagner have since increased their offer to “much more money than originally proposed.”
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What would be different for Brady given his TV broadcasting career?
The NFL has already placed restrictions on Brady in his role as a Fox analyst. He is not allowed access to other teams’ facilities and practices, nor is he allowed to attend production meetings, which typically include meetings with coaches and players before games.
However, in the scenario where he is approved as a minority owner, the restrictions would increase. This is evident from an ESPN report from AugustBrady would not be able to publicly criticize officials or other teams and could be fined or suspended if the league believes he violated that policy. He would also have to adhere to the league’s gambling and anti-tampering policies, and would be limited to “strict social communication” with members of other teams, the report said.
What is Brady’s connection to Raiders owner Mark Davis?
In January 2020, Brady attended UFC 246 and was photographed smiling as he spoke with Davis, whom he had previously met, and then-Raiders director Marcel Reece. The Raiders moved to Las Vegas, while Brady would leave his final season with the New England Patriots. With Brady set to become an unrestricted free agent in March, rumors swirled that he could potentially sign with the Raiders to replace then-quarterback Derek Carr.
The Raiders considered pursuing Brady, but then-coach Jon Gruden, who had personnel power, ultimately decided against it and stuck with Carr. Brady then signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but the Raiders’ flirtation was the start of a deeper relationship with Davis, who took over as head of the franchise after the death of his father, Al, in 2011.
In May 2022, Brady attended a Las Vegas Aces game. He spoke with Davis, who purchased the WNBA franchise in 2021, and expressed his admiration for what they were building. On the field, the team thrived and was on its way to its first WNBA championship. From a fans’ perspective, the Aces regularly sold out games and drew some of the best attendance in the league.
“I think Brady was really impressed with how far women’s basketball has come,” Davis said The Athletics last year. “And he was also impressed by the excitement and enthusiasm of the crowd in Las Vegas.”
Shortly after the game, Brady’s representatives contacted Davis and asked if he would be willing to sell a minority stake in the Aces. In March 2023, the Aces announced that Brady had reached an agreement with Davis to become a minority owner. The purchase was approved by the WNBA’s other owners in October. The percentage of Brady’s stake and the amount he paid for it remain secret.
“He knew I was in it, and I think he just felt like he wanted to be a part of it,” Davis said. “His people contacted me and we talked about it, and he became a partner.”
In May 2023, Davis told ESPN he had come to an agreement with Brady for the former quarterback to purchase a minority stake in the Raiders.
“We are excited to have Tom join the Raiders,” Davis told ESPN, “and it is exciting because he will be only the third player in National Football League history (after George Halas Sr. and Jerry Richardson) to becomes a top player. owner.”
Mark Davis and Tom Brady attend UFC 246 in Las Vegas on January 18, 2020. (Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
Why is Brady trying to buy a piece of the Raiders – and not the Patriots, Buccaneers or his hometown San Francisco 49ers?
It all starts with the existing business relationship between Brady and Davis. You can’t buy a share of a team without an owner being willing to sell some of his or her stake, and it’s unclear whether that would have been possible with the Patriots, Buccaneers or 49ers. For example, the Patriots are 100 percent owned by Robert Kraft he told Fox Business in February 2023“I never sell it. We have set it up so that it will hopefully remain in the family for decades to come.”
It’s also possible that Brady viewed the Raiders as a more attractive investment. Of the four teams mentioned above, only the Patriots – valued at $7.9 billion – are worth more than the Raiders, according to CNBC’s estimate. Their report puts the 49ers at $7.4 billion and the Bucs at $6.05 billion.
The report also suggests that the Raiders generate more revenue than those three other teams. According to CNBC, the Raiders generated $780 million in revenue last year, trailing only the Dallas Cowboys ($1.22 billion) and Los Angeles Rams ($825 million). That, plus Davis’ willingness to sell, is likely part of the reason this came about.
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Does this mean Brady would have some form of control over the Raiders?
No. To be considered a majority owner by the NFL, someone buying into the franchise must acquire at least a 30 percent stake. At that point they could have voting rights and team control. Because Brady and Wagner only buy 10 percent of the Raiders, they have no control. That’s another reason why they don’t want to pay 10 percent of the Raiders’ value.
“If someone buys a share in a limited partnership, they pay a much lower valuation because they don’t have any control,” a former NFL executive said. The Athletics last month. “They are actually just passive investors. It’s like selling the garage of your house. You wouldn’t sell it by the square meter. Someone would pay a lot less because he or she doesn’t own the house.”
How many other minority owners do the Raiders have?
Davis and his mother, Carol Davis, are listed as co-owners of the Raiders and its owner 47 percent of the franchise. That number would drop if Brady and Wagner’s bid is approved, but the Davis family would remain the primary owners. Effective in 2022, the NFL has lowered the minimum percentage of a team that a long-standing owner must control from 5 percent to 1 percent for teams with the same owner for at least 10 years.
When the late Al Davis became principal owner in 1972, he and eight partners formed a company called AD Football Inc. The original eight partners have died, but their heirs have become limited partners.
The Raiders 2024 media guide lists six other “interested parties” in the franchise: A. Boscacci, Jill Boscacci Lovingfoss, First Football, Winkenbach Family, Fox Football and Sargent Family.
Could Brady still return to play in the NFL as a co-owner?
No. NFL rules state that employees cannot own stock in a team unless they are family members of the team owner.
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What is the Raiders’ succession plan after Mark Davis? Could Brady end up being the primary owner?
It’s unknown. Mark Davis, 69, has no siblings and is single with no children. Carol Davis is in her nineties. If they still have shares in the franchise upon death, their ownership interest can be passed on to someone else in the family or sold.
In the latter scenario, Brady could try to buy out their shares. He could also try to buy their shares while they are still alive – or those of the other limited partners. Not only would he have to cross the 30 percent threshold, but he would also have to own more shares than Carol and Mark Davis to become the “controlling” owner. If Carol and Mark Davis ever decided to sell, there would likely be suitors besides Brady.
“It will be a real ‘Game of Thrones’ if that happens,” said a former NFL executive The Athletics. “If something is worth a thousand dollars, there’s no arguing. When something is worth $10 billion, it gets pretty ugly.”
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(Top image: Meech Robinson / The Athletics; Photos: Cooper Neill and Ethan Miller/Getty Images and Matthew Pearce/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)