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At 10:43 p.m., ET Monday, the NFL’s official X account posted a video from ESPN’s broadcast of the game between the Las Vegas Raiders and the Los Angeles Chargers.
The clip showed Raiders minority owner and Fox commentator Tom Brady in Las Vegas’ coaches’ booth wearing a headset, while ESPN’s Peter Schrager reported that Brady was acting as a resource for the team’s coaching staff.
“Tom Brady and Raiders [offensive coordinator] Chip Kelly work closely together to help with the game plan,” the post read, with a clapping hands emoji added for emphasis.
Within a few hours, the post was deleted.
While it’s not shocking to see a team owner attending a home game, Brady is a unique case. The seven-time Super Bowl champion owns 5% of the Raiders while also calling games for Fox — a potential conflict of interest the league has tried to navigate since Brady became the network’s lead color man in 2024.
Initially, Brady was barred from attending other teams’ facilities in person or participating in production meetings with players and coaches before games. This year, the NFL relaxed those rules, allowing Brady to participate in production meetings virtually. He is also allowed on the field before games, where Brady is frequently seen chatting with players and coaches.
The production meetings, in particular, are an area where Brady can glean information regarding other teams’ personnel and game plans. Coaches and players are often forthcoming about strategies and even specific plays they may use when speaking with broadcasters.
“If a guy has been somewhere forever, and he knows that he can trust us, the information is plentiful,” Joe Buck, then Fox’s lead play-by-play man, told the Los Angeles Times in 2019. “They’ll tell you not just trick plays, they’ll tell you who’s going to get the bulk of the carries, how they’re going to try to beat a team specifically. Because they know the only time you’re going to reveal it is once the game’s kicked off, and you’re going to use it most of the time as your own opinion.”
“Production meetings are predicated on one word,” CBS play-by-play lead Jim Nantz told the Times. “Trust.”
The NFL says Brady didn’t violate rules Monday.
“There are no policies that prohibit an owner from sitting in the coaches’ booth or wearing a headset during a game. Brady was sitting in the booth in his capacity as a limited partner,” NFL chief spokesperson Brian McCarthy said in a statement Tuesday.
Added McCarthy, with regards to the meetings Brady attends in his capacity as a broadcaster: “It’s up to the club, coach or players to determine what they say in those sessions.”
Questions remain, though, over how involved Brady is with Las Vegas’ football operations and if he can use his role with Fox to relay information to the Raiders coaching staff.
Fox declined to comment.
Speaking at a Front Office Sports conference Tuesday, Fox Sports CEO Eric Shanks was asked directly about the appearance of a conflict of interest.
“Good question, I’m not going to answer that,” Shanks said.
Former players are questioning the arrangement, however.
“I don’t think it matters whether they’re guarded or not,” ESPN’s Domonique Foxworth said on “Get Up” this morning when speaking about production meetings with Brady.
He added: “I would be upset or uncomfortable if I were a player on a team.”
“I hate it,” ESPN’s Marcus Spears said on “First Take.” “It’s abhorrent for me, for his job. I love it for his team. You’re a 5% owner of the Las Vegas Raiders. Sit wherever the hell you wanna sit at the game. If you wanna be on the sideline with a headset on, go be on the sideline with a headset on. This should not happen with him being a commentator of NFL football games. It actually questions the integrity of the NFL.”
Writing for NBC Sports on Tuesday, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio says Brady is “very involved” with Las Vegas.
“Meanwhile, he enjoys a window into other teams, other players, other coaches that no other owner has,” Florio wrote. “For good reason. It crosses a line that the league should never allow anyone to cross.”
Las Vegas, meanwhile, distanced itself from ESPN’s report Monday night. Raiders head coach Pete Carroll said it was “not accurate” when asked if Brady and Kelly meet two to three times a week.
Carroll did concede that Brady speaks with the coaching staff.
“We have conversations,” Carroll said Monday night. “I talk to Tom, Chip talks to Tom regularly. We have a tremendous asset. And we all get along and respect each other. We just talk about life and football. He has great insight, so we’re lucky to have him as an owner.”
Carroll, in addition to saying Brady “is not planning” for games with the team, noted that Brady also watched a preseason game from the booth in August.
The team did not respond when asked for comment on how often Brady meets with the coaching staff.
Brady’s colleague at Fox, former tight end Greg Olsen, said Tuesday it makes sense for Las Vegas’ coaches to consult with Brady.
“What better resource than someone who’s both financially obligated to the success of the organization and has 20-plus years of top-line experience?” Olsen told Front Office Sports. “Why would you not pick his brain? Why would you not utilize every resource and every aspect of your organization to try to find that slight margin to be the difference between winning and losing the game?”
Rohan Nadkarni is a sports reporter for NBC News.
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