Tom Brady now has to follow five rules in his role for FOX due to his minority ownership of the Las Vegas Raiders.

The NFL icon finds himself in a conflicted position as a result of his new ventures since retiring last year. He notably signed a 10-year contract with FOX worth $375million (£295m), but Brady is the kind to have his fingers in multiple pies.

Having already invested in WNBA side Las Vegas Aces, as well as English soccer club Birmingham City, Brady saw his second deal with Aces and Raiders owner Mark Davis approved last month. The five per cent he owns has a big impact on his broadcasting career, though.

A set of guidelines established especially for him were set out in the NFL’s meetings in August, as per ESPN. He’s not able to critize teams or referees, evidently quite an issue in punditry.

He’s not allowed to enter team facilities, nor attend practices. And he can’t join pregame production meetings with teams or players, while also being subject to the league’s gambling and tampering policies.

The pregame meetings ban is a particular sticking point given that’s how a lot of context is provided to viewers. The Dallas Cowboys made it clear that they want Brady to be a part of theirs.

Las Vegas Raiders owner and managing general partner and Las Vegas Aces owner Mark Davis (L) and Tom Brady laugh as they attend Game One of the 2023 WNBA Playoffs finals between the Aces and the New York Liberty at Michelob ULTRA Arena on October 08, 2023

Brady’s investment in Mark Davis’ Las Vegas Raiders has subjected him to strict guidelines ( 

Image:

Getty Images)

But league rules trump any waiver they may give to the so-called ‘Brady Broadcast Rules’, with that idea swiftly being shut down. What can Brady can still do is call Raiders games, however, which many may have expected to be forbidden.

The rules have cast serious doubt over his longevity as FOX’s No. 1 analyst. He has gradually improved on the microphone since the start of the season, but his room for further growth could now be stunted.

ProFootballTalk.com’s Mike Florio reckons his heart isn’t in the job. Speaking on John Ourand’s ‘The Varsity’ podcast, he said: “There’s been a sense that maybe Brady doesn’t really want to do it anyway.

“Because you think of how thinly he’s spread, all of the different things that he’s doing, it may not be that he wants to be the absolute best at everything he does. It may just be that he wants us to think he’s the absolute best at everything that he does, and he’s doing a lot of different things and he’s making a lot of different appearances and he’s making a lot of money.

“Him being an owner and him being a broadcaster I think it keeps him from being the absolute best he could ever be. And it just always seemed beneath him – he’s Tom Brady… I just wonder how many years he’ll continue to do it.”