How Rupert Murdoch Changed Sports Media Forever
When he retires from the NFL, Tom Brady will step into the richest contract in sports TV history.
Brady will make between $20 million and $25 million a year as Fox Sports’ No. 1 analyst alongside announcer Kevin Burkhardt, sources told Front Office Sports.
That will carry the 44-year-old Brady past the $18 million annual salaries of Troy Aikman at ESPN and Tony Romo at CBS Sports.
Brady’s pact is believed to be longer than the typical five-year deal. His total deal could be as long as 10 years for $250 million, said sources. According to the New York Post, Brady’s 10-year-deal with Fox could be worth $375 million.
By comparison, Aikman’s new deal will pay him over $90 million over five years, while Romo’s will pay him $180 million over 10 years.
- The seven-time Super Bowl champion will earn $332 million in salary and bonuses over his NFL career, according to Spotrac.
- After briefly retiring in February, Brady announced he’s returning to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for his 23rd NFL season.
Fox Reports Earnings
Fox, which will televise two of the next three Super Bowls, announced Brady’s hire during its third-quarter earnings call on Tuesday.
The network reported $3.45 billion in revenue and $290 million in net income, bolstered by $1.3 billion in ad revenue.
Year-over-year profits were down, however, due to “increased digital investment, higher sports programming rights amortization and production costs, and the write-down of certain scripted entertainment programming.”
Update: Fox issued an additional statement Tuesday afternoon, saying: “What has been reported isn’t an accurate description of the deal and we have not released details beyond what was disclosed on our quarterly earnings call.”
