Brady's Raiders bid will be approved, sources say

Tom Brady is expected to be approved as a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders at Tuesday's NFL fall owners' meetings in Atlanta, league sources told ESPN on Saturday.

The NFL's finance committee reviewed Brady's bid and plans to bring it to the other owners for a vote, requiring approval from 24 of the league's 32 owners.

But a source told ESPN the committee will not bring Brady's bid to the owners for a vote if it is not approved, which now appears to be a formality.

The finance committee unanimously approved Brady as minority owner, and no one can remember the last time owners voted against a unanimous recommendation by the finance committee, sources told ESPN.

Brady is therefore days away from buying about 10% of the Raiders from owner Mark Davis with businessman Tom Wagner. It's a deal that was agreed in May 2023 but needed to be refined and adjusted after the league's finance committee believed the initial offer was too discounted.

“We're excited for Tom to join the Raiders,” Davis told ESPN's Paul Gutierrez at the time of the initial deal. “And it's exciting because he'll be the third player in National Football League history to become an owner.”

George Halas and Jerry Richardson are the other two.

Ahead of what turns out to be Brady's final NFL season in 2022, the seven-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback agreed to a 10-year, $375 million deal to join Fox as an analyst once his playing career is over. He retired in 2023 and agreed to start at Fox for the 2024 season.

Brady, 47, is expected to become one of the highest-profile former athletes to own a part of a team, joining such all-time greats as Michael Jordan, who became a part owner of the Bobcats/Hornets franchise; Magic Johnson, who was part of an investment group that bought a stake in the Dodgers and Commanders; Dwyane Wade, who bought an ownership stake in the Jazz in 2021; Alex Rodriguez, who became part owner of the Timberwolves in 2021; Mario Lemieux, who has owned the Penguins since 1999; Patrick Mahomes, who became part owner of the Royals in 2020; Warrick Dunn, who is a limited partner with the Falcons; John Stallworth with the Steelers; and Lewis Hamilton with the Broncos.