There has always been some concern about a potential conflict of interest involving Las Vegas Raiders minority owner Tom Brady, who also serves as an in-game analyst for Fox Sports. During his first year in the job, the NFL actually banned Brady from participating in the production meetings that analysts attend prior to the games.
Because of Brady’s ownership stake with the Raiders, the league was concerned that Brady could disclose some of the information gleaned from these meetings and possibly pass it on to the Raiders, giving them a slight advantage. As such, Brady’s play-by-play partner and other crew members would have to inform Brady of what was discussed in those meetings so that he could have the necessary information to call the games.
But it now sounds as if the league is letting up on those rules as Andrew Marchand of The Athletic reports that the league will allow Brady to take part in those production meetings in his second season as a Fox Sports analyst:
The “Brady Rules” are basically done.
The NFL will allow Tom Brady, Fox Sports’ top TV game analyst and Las Vegas Raiders minority owner, to take part in production meetings with coaches and teams this season, sources briefed on the decision told The Athletic.
In Brady’s rookie broadcasting year, he was banned from these information-gathering sessions for nearly the whole season. The rules were in place due to his ownership stake. The NFL relented for the Super Bowl.
The concern from the NFL makes sense as they don’t want Brady to possibly use his role as minority owner of the Raiders to his advantage. However, because Brady was already receiving the information, as he needed to be knowledgeable to perform his job as an analyst, it was surely much easier for him to participate in the meetings.
This is simply a case of if there is concern about Brady using information in these meetings in a shady way, then he shouldn’t be allowed to be an analyst while also being a team owner. However, if the league is okay with him calling games, they must allow him to do his job to the best of his ability.
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