Tom Brady's bid for Raiders ownership stake 'making progress'
NFL legend Tom Brady still doesn’t own a piece of the Raiders and there was no vote taken to approve his 10 percent stake in the Las Vegas organization during the league owners meeting this week in Orlando.
Still, commissioner Roger Goodell said Tuesday from the NFL’s annual league meeting in Orlando, Fla., that the league is going through its usual protocols and “wouldn’t say it’s a delay” when he discussed Brady’s potential ownership stake in the Raiders.
“We go through a very thorough process. … We’re just going through our process. We’ve been in touch with their side. I think it’s been making progress,” he said according to ESPN.
Raiders owner Mark Davis and Brady reached an agreement last May for the former NFL quarterback to take a 10 percent stake in the team, which some had believed was a move to convince Brady to suit up for the Raiders.
“We’re excited for Tom to join the Raiders,” Davis told ESPN at the time. “And it’s exciting because he will be just the third player in the history of the National Football League to become an owner.”
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The NFL passed a rule last July that prohibited employees from holding equity in teams.
There had been a concern that Davis had offered Brady an ownership stake at a discounted price and that it would potentially negatively affect the franchise value, The Associated Press reported.
“The number just has to be a reasonable number for purchase price from Tom, is the only thing,” Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay said in October.
Brady already has equity in another Davis-owned sports franchise, the Las Vegas Aces of the WNBA.
Brady was approved for his minority share of the Aces by WNBA owners on Oct. 2, which had been just six months after the purchase process began.
The Patriots’ legend’s involvement with an NFL team is made more complicated by the fact that he is set to begin his role as an analyst on Fox’s NFL coverage.