Tom Brady’s co-ownership of the Raiders has resulted in a bevvy of restrictions on his Fox broadcasting career – and now the NFL has made a decision on whether the legendary quarterback can call the team’s games on air.
With Brady’s bid to own a piece of the Raiders pending over the summer (it was finally approved last week), the NFL ruled that Brady could not attend broadcast production meetings, visit other teams’ facilities or go to their practices.
He’s also prohibited from criticizing referees or other teams in the booth.
Nonetheless, Brady will continue on in his $375million Fox contract, and on Thursday the league confirmed on a conference call that he would be able to work Raiders games, as reported by ProFootballTalk.
Given that Brady is Fox’s No. 1 game analyst and works the network’s top game each week, it’s unlikely that he’ll overlap a ton with the 2-4 Raiders, at least in the short term.
Tom Brady’s role as a Fox game analyst has been heavily restricted – but he’ll still be allowed to call Raiders games
The Raiders are just 2-4, so it’s unlikely that they’ll be Fox’s top game of the week anytime soon
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NFL fans say same thing about Tom Brady’s $375m Fox deal after he was approved as Raiders co-owner
Still, many fans have qualms about him working for Fox given the restrictions that have been placed on him.
After Brady’s share of the Raiders (a 10 percent stake that he will split in half with business partner Tom Wagner) was approved, fans said on social media that Fox should be able to void Brady’s contract.
‘Brady made a mistake with this Fox job,’ one fan said on X. ‘It’s very lucrative but this is not for him. If he becomes a minority owner, his contract can be terminated. Those two things are incompatible.’
‘It kinda should [void his contract],’ agreed another ‘How are you supposed to prepare to call a game if you are prohibited from being anywhere near any preparation?’
A third said, ‘Owners shouldn’t be be allowed to call games each week,’ they wrote. ‘Tom Brady is about to become a minority owner. He’s also on the FOX A-crew every week. Bad precedent to set. Gets access to teams his club competes with (he’ll forego some of that access apparently). Shouldn’t be allowed.’
Brady agreed to join Fox in May 2022, following his second-and-final retirement from the NFL, while he agreed in principle to become part of the Raiders the following year.
Tom Brady received a warm welcome upon his arrival at the Raider’s facility on Wednesday
That latter deal was not approved by NFL owners until last week, due to reported concerns over the discounted price that Brady was previously offered by owner Mark Davis.
Brady previously told the AP that his role with the Las Vegas franchise would be a ‘passive’ one.
He visited the team’s facility for the first time as a part-owner this week, as he received a round of applause from team staff.
