Tom Brady: I Don’t Look at My Team Ownership As a Business

Tom Brady has spent his post-playing career amassing ownership stakes in teams like the NFL’s Raiders, the WNBA’s Aces and English soccer club Birmingham City, but the seven-time Super Bowl winner says he’s more focused on what’s happening on the field than what’s taking place in the boardroom.

“I don’t look at it from a business standpoint,” he told Front Office Sports when asked about his ownership portfolio. “I look at it from a purpose-driven standpoint.” 

Brady, promoting an upcoming documentary about Birmingham City, repeatedly dodged questions about the business side of his ownership holdings like he was a running back juking the defense. He maintains his focus is using his many years of experience as a successful pro athlete to support the athletes on the field. He says that to “bring a part of competition and trying to help other people be successful” is his motivation as an owner.

“I enjoy the process and the product that happens on the field,” he said on FOS Today. “There’s certainly businesspeople involved in selling tickets and sponsorships and so forth, but I want to see other people be successful in their life and their sporting career.”

He stressed that he is not in a “day-to-day operational role” with Birmingham.

“I feel like I can play a role from 30,000 feet to make sure the players are saying the right thing, the coaches are saying the right thing, the processes for their success are correct,” he said. “And I really enjoy that role, and I can play a mentorship role in different ways in a lot of different areas.”

In addition to stakes in the Raiders, Aces, and Birmingham, Brady co-owns a Major League Pickleball team and an electric powerboat racing team. He’s also co-owner of collectors retail business CardVault, which is planning to open a location in Chicago, not to mention his role as a broadcaster on Fox Sports.

“I’ve got a lot on my plate,” Brady said.

Brady also remained mostly mum with regard to his thoughts on the NFL allowing private-equity firms to invest in teams. (A limited PE ownership policy was approved last summer, and three teams already have PE investment: the Dolphins, Bills, and Chargers.)

“To be honest, I don’t really focus much on that. I really focus on the process of improvement for these clubs and for the players, and for the practices and the games,” he said. “The business side, I know there’s a lot of other people involved in those things, and the business of sports is very intense and there’s a lot of different nuances to the business of sports as well, both in the U.K. and America. I think where my expertise fits is actually on the field.”