Tom Brady is officially a Las Vegas Raider. More than a year after first attempting to purchase a minority stake in the team, the retired NFL great was approved by other owners this week for a 5% purchase of the franchise. So what comes next? How much influence will Brady have alongside controlling owner Mark Davis? And how will Brady's new role as Fox analyst affect his front office standing?
Amy Trask, CBS Sports analyst and former Raiders CEO, spoke with CBSSports.com about Brady's big move, and what it means from a practical standpoint moving forward.
Brady's practical role as minority owner
The NFL requires each team to have one controlling owner -- as Trask puts it, "one voice that can represent the franchise, vote for the franchise," etc. Yet the Raiders also have, "irrespective of the league rules, a controlling ownership interest." That's comprised of Mark Davis, son of Al Davis, who owned the team from 1972 until his death in 2011; and Carol Davis, Al's widow. Mark is "the voice of that family interest," Trask explains, making him the controlling owner of the team.
Beneath Davis, there are other equity owners -- some have been there for decades, Trask notes -- who are legal partners but "don't have a controlling interest in running the Raiders franchise." This is where Brady falls into the equation, as a "limited partner." And from a practical standpoint?
"Tom can have as much input as Mark wishes for Tom to have," Trask says, "as can any limited partner."
Davis, for what it's worth, has already hinted Brady will have a direct hand in helping the Raiders acquire their quarterback of the future. And Trask presumes "Mark and Tom had those conversations [about his level of involvement] before the deal was finalized." Though, it should be noted, "one would hope that Mark also solicits input from Richard Seymour" and other "very, very smart men who care deeply about the Raiders" within the limited partnership groups.
Jim Gray's role in Brady's partnership
Trask believes that Gray, an award-winning sportscaster and co-host of Brady's "Let's Go!" podcast, "orchestrated" the former Super Bowl champion's deal to become a Raiders partner. It represents the completion of a years-long effort by Gray to broker a deal with the franchise.
"When I was back with the team," Trask says, "Al Davis asked me to sell a substantial interest of the team, and as I was working through that process, Jim wanted to orchestrate a sale. Obviously it was not with Tom at that time. ... I thwarted that [for business reasons], and he was very, very resentful of that. ... Since Al passed away and Mark began the role he now has, it's very well-understood in many circles that [Jim] is a very, very prominent voice in Mark's ear."
Conflicts of Brady's role at Fox
Contrary to speculation that Brady's new job as an NFL broadcaster could negatively impact his Raiders partnership, or vice-versa, Trask has few, if any, concerns about a potential conflict of interest.
"If Fox is copacetic, and if the league is now copacetic, and if the Raiders are copacetic, if those parties are fine with this, that's what matters," she says, noting that, if she were a current NFL executive, she'd be comfortable with Brady's broadcast access to her team, even as a partner of another NFL team. She points to the restrictions the NFL has already put in place regarding Brady's Fox job, prohibiting him from attending in-person or online production meetings, or accessing team facilities, players or coaches.
