It’s official, subject to approval.
Retired (for now) quarterback Tom Brady has struck a deal to buy a minority stake in the Raiders from Mark Davis, according to Albert Breer of SI.com.
The transaction must not be approved by the league. It won’t happen at this week’s meeting.
Brady already owns a minority stake in the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces, a team also owned by Davis.
There’s no reason to think the league won’t approve Brady to join the ranks of owners. (Other than his 2016 suspension for removing air from footballs or his involvement with FTX, a crypto exchange that recently imploded in a blaze of Bitcoin.)
If/when he’s approved, Brady becomes one of them. A junior member of Club Oligarch, intent on securing financial and tactical advantage over the players.
Unless, of course, he starts playing again.
When Brady was poised to become a limited partner with the Dolphins in 2022, the plan was that he’d eventually emerge from retirement and play for the team. If Brady is going to be playing for anyone from this point forward, how could it be any team other than the Raiders?
It’s unclear how much Brady will purchase. It likely will be a very small piece. Even at one percent, Brady would be looking at a price tag of somewhere between $40 million and $60 million.