Tom Brady’s bid to become a junior member of Club Oligarch is still pending.
Brady’s proposed purchase of the piece of the Raiders remains pending. No vote was taken during this week’s ownership meetings in Nashville.
“I do think progress is being made,” Commissioner Roger Goodell told reporters. “We’ve had a number of meetings. The Finance Committee has done their work on this and we have a little more to do.”
One issue is the overlap between Brady’s role as an owner of the Raiders and as a broadcaster for Fox.
“As a member of the media, what access would he have every week as the prepares for the broadcast of a game,” Goodell said. “And we’ve addressed that also. So we’re making progress on this.”
Goodell didn’t provide details as to what they’ve done to address the access question. (We’ve asked the league for more info.) The good news is the league sees the problem.
It’s an obvious conflict of interest. On one hand, Brady would have a fiduciary duty to the Raiders to tell them anything he learns about the team’s future opponents. On the other hand, Brady would have an obligation to Fox and its audience to get the best information to augment his commentary on the games. Broadcasters typically have access to plenty of inside information.
If the NFL simply restricts Brady’s access for certain games (and since every team is a potential future postseason opponent of the Raiders, his access should be restricted for all games), Brady won’t be in the best position to do the job to the best of his abilities.
That’s why someone should tell him he needs to pick one or the other. It’s not unfair. Be an owner or a broadcaster. Not both.
Brady’s stature will get him consideration that others wouldn’t. That’s how bad precedents get created. Brady, quite frankly, should not want to do both.
It’s unclear who’s advising him in matters of this nature. Of course, whoever it is also thought doing a roast would be a good idea.
