How Tom Brady Could Join the Raiders and Why He Wants a Slice of the NFL Pie?

Tom Brady, the future Hall of Fame inductee and arguably the greatest player in NFL history, may be on the verge of becoming an NFL owner.

Brady and businessman Tom Wagner, co-founder of Knighthead Capital Management, reached an agreement with Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis to purchase a stake in the franchise last year.

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 application, and a potential vote will follow.

Here’s an overview of how Brady and the Raiders arrived at this point:

Brady and Wagner had to come to an agreement with Davis to buy a minority stake in the franchise, which they accomplished in May 2023.

From there, the offer is being reviewed by the NFL’s finance committee, formed last year and comprised of owners.

The committee will decide if the application will be put to a vote. If so, the offer must be approved by 24 of the 32 majority NFL owners.

According to league sources, the deal between Brady, Wagner, and Davis revolves around a 10 percent stake in the Raiders.

CNBC estimated the Raiders’ value at $7.8 billion last month, but that does not mean Brady and Wagner will pay $780 million.

In fact, the valuation is based on the estimated price the Raiders would command if Davis sold the entire franchise.

The agreed-upon price between Brady, Wagner, and Davis has not been disclosed, but it will likely be significantly lower than 10 percent of the Raiders’ valuation.

Brady and Wagner are required to pay in cash.

If they do not have the full amount, they will need to take out a loan.

It took some time to settle on the final price.

According to the Washington Post, the NFL’s finance committee expressed concerns last year that Davis was giving too much of a discount to Brady and Wagner.

The Post reported earlier this month that Brady and Wagner have since increased their offer to “considerably more money than what was initially proposed. ”

The NFL has already restricted Brady in his role as a Fox analyst, which Brady accepted prior to the start of this season, according to a league source.

He is not allowed access to other teams’ facilities and practices, nor to attend production meetings, which typically include meetings with coaches and players before games.

He is also barred from publicly criticizing officials or other teams and could be fined or suspended if the league believes he violates this policy.

He must also adhere to league gambling and anti-tampering policies and is limited to “strictly social communication” with members of other teams.

In January 2020, Brady attended UFC 246 and was photographed smiling while talking to Davis, whom he had met earlier, and then to Marcel Reece, then the Raiders’ director.

The Raiders were moving to Las Vegas, while Brady had just completed what would be his last season with the New England Patriots.

As Brady was about to become a unrestricted free agent in March, rumors swirled that he might potentially sign with the Raiders to replace the then-starting quarterback, Derek Carr.

The Raiders considered pursuing Brady, but the then-coach Jon Gruden, who had final decision-making power, ultimately decided against it and stuck with Carr.

Brady subsequently signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but the Raiders’ flirtation marked the beginning of a deeper relationship with Davis, who took over the franchise after the death of his father, Al, in 2011.

In May 2022, Brady attended a Las Vegas Aces game.

He met with Davis, who purchased the WNBA franchise in 2021, and expressed admiration for what they were building. On the court, the team was thriving and heading towards its first WNBA championship.

From a fan’s perspective, the Aces were regularly selling out games and attracting some of the best attendance figures in the league.

“I think (Brady) was really impressed with how far women’s basketball has come,” Davis told The Athletic last year.

“And he was also impressed with the excitement and enthusiasm of the crowd in Las Vegas.”

Shortly after the game, Brady’s representatives reached out to 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 other WNBA owners in October.

The percentage of Brady’s stake and the amount he paid for it remain confidential.

“He knew I was in it, and I think he just felt 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 that he had reached an agreement with Brady for the former quarterback to buy a minority stake in the Raiders.

“We’re excited to have Tom join the Raiders,” Davis told ESPN, “and it’s exciting because he will be only the third player in NFL history (after George Halas Sr. and Jerry Richardson) to become an owner.”

It all begins with the existing business relationship between Brady and Davis.

You cannot buy a stake in a team without an owner willing to sell part of their stake, and it’s unclear whether it would have been possible with the Patriots, Buccaneers, or 49ers.

The Patriots, for instance, are 100 percent owned by Robert Kraft, who told Fox Business in February 2023, “I’m never selling it.

We put it in place for it to stay, hopefully, in the family for many decades to come.”

It’s also possible that Brady sees the Raiders as a more attractive investment.

Of the four teams mentioned, 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 the Raiders generate more revenue than the other three teams.

According to CNBC, the Raiders generated $780 million in revenue over the past year, behind the Dallas Cowboys ($1.22 billion) and the Los Angeles Rams ($825 million).

This, combined with Davis’s willingness to sell, is likely part of the reason this has come to fruition.

No. To be considered a majority owner by the NFL, anyone buying the franchise must acquire at least 30 percent of the shares.

At that point, they could have voting rights and control of the team.

Since Brady and Wagner are only buying 10 percent of the Raiders, they will have no control.

This is another reason they will not pay 10 percent of the Raiders’ valuation.

“If someone buys what’s called a limited partnership share, they pay a much lower valuation because they don’t have any control,” said a former NFL executive to The Athletic last month.

“They are essentially just passive investors. It would be like selling the garage of your house.

You wouldn’t sell it at a price per square foot. Someone would pay much less because they don’t own the house.”

Davis and his mother, Carol Davis, are listed as co-owners of the Raiders and own 47 percent of the franchise.

This number would decrease if Brady and Wagner’s offer were approved, but the Davis family would remain the primary owners.

As of 2022, the NFL has lowered the minimum percentage of a team that a longtime owner need control from 5 percent to 1 percent for teams with the same owner for at least 10 years.

When the late Al Davis became the principal owner in 1972, he formed a company called AD Football Inc. alongside eight partners. The original eight partners have since passed away, but their heirs have become limited partners.

The Raiders’ 2024 media guide lists six other “interest holders” in the franchise: A. Boscacci, Jill Boscacci Lovingfoss, First Football, Winkenbach Family, Fox Football, and Sargent Family.

NFL rules stipulate that employees cannot hold equity in a team unless they are family members of the team owner.

That’s unknown.

Mark Davis, 69, has no siblings and is single with no children.

Carol Davis is 90.

If they still hold ownership in the franchise at the time of their passing, their shares could pass to another family member or be sold.

Brady might try to buy their shares in that latter scenario.

He could also attempt to purchase their shares while they are still alive – or those of other limited partners.

Not only would he need to surpass the 30 percent threshold, but he would also need to own more shares than Carol and Mark Davis to become the “majority owner.”

Should Carol and Mark Davis ever decide to sell, there would likely be bidders beyond Brady.

“When that happens, it’s going to be a real ‘Game of Thrones,'” a former NFL executive told The Athletic.

“When something is worth $1,000, there’s no fight.

When something is worth $10 billion, it gets really ugly.”