The conflict of interest surrounding Tom Brady’s dual roles as Fox’s lead analyst and minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders may be about to hit a new level of scrutiny.
While most stories have focused on Brady’s ability to do his job honestly from the broadcast booth, there is another issue. The Kansas City Chiefs are again in the Super Bowl, which will be broadcast on Fox. They are AFC West rivals with the Raiders. Kansas City can’t ignore the obvious.
Why be completely open and forthcoming in the pregame production meetings? Even if Brady isn’t involved because of his broadcast restrictions, how cooperative would you be with Fox knowing that Brady the owner could absorb whatever information is passed along?
NFL teams are obligated to work with their broadcasting partners. However, it seems like there is only a downside to going above and beyond with Brady and Fox. According to The Athletic’s Dianna Russini, Tom Brady is “running everything in Vegas.” This is unusual, no matter how much Fox executives downplay it. Brady played for Bill Belichick in New England, which infamously had multiple cheating scandals. He also is hyper-competitive. It seems reasonable to speculate that he will use every advantage he can to learn about the inner workings of his competitors – especially a division rival going for a historic third consecutive Lombardi Trophy.
You can argue about how much valuable information Brady can obtain in his role with the restrictions placed on him. However, as the greatest quarterback of all time, no one of his stature has ever been in this position. So, if anybody can learn crucial trade secrets from nuggets of info about the Chiefs, or any other team, it’s Brady.
“Jalen Hurts has thrown the ball really well on time.”@TomBrady was impressed with Jalen Hurts’ performance in the first half of the NFC Championship game. pic.twitter.com/jlTJ7xV8tc
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) January 26, 2025
If Fox is annoyed by the conflict-of-interest questions, it has only itself to blame. The simple appearance of a conflict is a problem. That’s why reputable journalist entities go out of their way to minimize it. It’s like objectivity, something you strive continuously for even though you might never reach it 100%. Viewers and media critics have a right to raise questions. But the ones who might actually be harmed by Brady being in such a powerful position might be other NFL teams.
Andy Reid and Nick Sirianni should be cautious, not only around Brady but also Fox staffers who could innocently relay information to him that might be used for a competitive advantage down the road. Maybe Reid and Sirianni already have been tight-lipped. Reid, while affable, can also be guarded at times. We don’t know what happens behind closed doors. In any relationship between a sports team and the media, there ideally should be a foundation of trust. That’s how media members develop sources, break news, and inform the audience.
We know Tom Brady has a relationship with Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. The two sat down for an interview in October, right about the time that Brady’s ownership stake in the Raiders was approved by NFL owners. But with the NFL’s broadcast restrictions for Brady in place, it’s unlikely an interview like that could happen again as the sitdown with Mahomes ruffled feathers around the NFL. And that was before the reports about how involved Brady was in the Raiders front office.
Why should teams trust Brady? If he is running the Raiders, that would be like giving a platform and access to a rival general manager. (Imagine Jalen Hurts sitting down one-on-one with Jerry Jones.) It is something that should never be done. But it’s happening.
“At the end of every year, it restarts, and that’s the challenge of the NFL.”@TomBrady discusses the difficulty of maintaining a consistent level season after season in the league. pic.twitter.com/W8WVZguaV4
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) January 19, 2025
Blame Fox for not being more proactive to squelch this from the start. It doesn’t seem to care. Maybe other NFL teams aren’t threatened by Tom Brady. But it’s impossible to know yet what advantages Brady may have gleaned from his TV job. It’s still early, and with the Raiders hiring a new GM and coach, Brady is just getting started. Perhaps Fox will luck out, and Brady will eventually realize that wearing two hats is too much.
Super Bowl week and the game broadcast may go off without a hitch. We may never know if Tom Brady discovers something because of his TV job that might help the Raiders close the gap in the AFC West. But the questions will always be there because of the conflict of interest, and the other 31 NFL teams will surely tread lightly around the analyst/owner.
