Brady blurs lines as broadcaster and owner
Michael Holley and J.A. Adande have some questions about Tom Brady joining the Raiders as a minority owner.
Video Transcript
MICHAEL HOLLEY: All right, JA, I just can't keep up with Tom Brady. All right, I can't keep up with him. So Tom Brady, he's going to be a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders. And Mark Davis is excited about it. Meanwhile, Tom Brady still has a large contract with Fox, over a $300 million contract with Fox, to be a broadcaster. Fox has "blessed," quote, "blessed" the arrangement for Brady to be a part owner and also to be a broadcaster. Of course, they blessed it. I mean, you want to talk about an advantage, JA? OK, hey, hey, Tom Brady comes into--
JA ADANDE: But that's no different-- he's got the inside scoop. But Shaq had ownership in the Kings with TNT. Grant Hill is still doing games on CBS during the tournament and on TNT, and he's got an ownership stake in the Atlanta Hawks. So it wouldn't be unprecedented. What is sad, to me-- what's sad about it, to me, is that he--
MICHAEL HOLLEY: How's it make you feel as a professor, though?
JA ADANDE: --or the Buccaneers.
MICHAEL HOLLEY: --journalism professor. As a--
JA ADANDE: There's all kinds of conflict. That ship has sailed, the conflict of interest, though. But I'm just sad that he should have a stake in the Patriots, or at the very least, the Buccaneers. What's he doing with the Raiders, you know? How did he get-- it's like when Michael Jordan was with the Wizards and not with the Bulls. Like, you can't give these guys some ownership shares when they made those franchises?
MICHAEL HOLLEY: I'm going to tell you-- that's great. That sound-- that's cute. You want to talk about a ship sailing? All right, we start off the show with Michael Malone saying, family on three. That sounds good. But the Patriots are, I think, the second or third most valuable franchise in the world. So for Tom Brady to be a part owner, Robert Kraft, hey, I look at Brady like a son, gonna have to give him up-- give up some of that money. And I just don't think he's down with it. He's not. He doesn't need to. Whereas Mark Davis, he is one of the more cash-poor owners in the NFL.
JA ADANDE: He could use that influence.
MICHAEL HOLLEY: And I think Tom Brady is good for business. But I just think to be a broadcaster-- broadcaster-owner, that's weird.
JA ADANDE: We've had-- again, we've had those things. What's also interesting to me is how there's a couple little hiccups, little bumps in the road on the way to the Josh Harris group purchasing the Washington Commanders, in part because there's concerns that he doesn't have enough cash on hand. Well, with these franchise valuations, do you realize how limited the pool is of people who can have a billion dollars in cash?
They might have net worths of several billions, but how much of that is actually in cash that they can fork over to the NFL immediately? And so I think it's great that the franchise isn't worth as much. Congratulates on you for getting this money. But you've really limited your pool now of potential owners. It's going to be even more exclusive than it's been all this time.
MICHAEL HOLLEY: Speaking of forking over cash, the NFL wants you to do it, and they want you to do it on short notice. They are now flexing "Thursday Night Football" games in weeks 13 through 17. This passed by a 24 to 8 vote. They needed 24 owners to say yes. 24 did. And so that means, hey, you might see a "Thursday Night Football" game in December, and you have plans to go there, especially Jets at Cleveland, New Orleans, the Rams, Pittsburgh-- New England and Pittsburgh--
JA ADANDE: Week 13 is the Dallas Cowboys. They're not getting flexed anywhere. Why? Because of the ratings, which brings us back to where we were at the top of the show, the business.
MICHAEL HOLLEY: But still--
JA ADANDE: The dominion of dollars. That's all that matters--
MICHAEL HOLLEY: Why are they flexing "Thursday Night," though? Thursday, they should not be able to flex "Thursday Night" games. I mean, you're talking about--
JA ADANDE: They shouldn't. But guess what? They won't. They won't. Look at the teams that are currently slated. They ain't flexing the Steelers or the Cowboys out. That ain't happening. The dominion of dollars rules everything. There is no NFC. There is no AFC. There is only money.
MICHAEL HOLLEY: All money. And speaking of money, that office, that backdrop, that's money right there. That's big money. JA Adande, good to see you, brother.
