After agreeing to become a part owner of the Las Vegas Raiders over a year ago, Tom Brady has still not been approved as a part owner of the NFL franchise. Up to this point, it hasn’t exactly been clear why Brady’s deal has not been approved by team owners, but NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell recently gave some pretty good insight into it.
During an interview session at the league’s ownership meetings in Nashville this week, Roger Goodell claimed that there has been progress made on Brady’s deal, but that there is “a little more to do.”
“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.”
He also provided some pretty significant insight into what might be holding the deal back from being approved by the NFL as he confirmed that Brady’s current status as an analyst for Fox is a problem for the league.
“As a member of the media, what access would he have every week as he prepares for the broadcast of a game,” Goodell said. “And we’ve addressed that also. So we’re making progress on this.”
Broadcasters typically have more access than the general public – or opposing teams – in order to best prepare for upcoming games. With Brady directly involved with one NFL team, having additional access to other NFL teams could present an issue and a conflict of interest.
Obviously, this is a problem for the league, and a problem for Brady as he wants to be both a commentator and a league owner. We’ll have to see how the league addresses it.
