Tom Brady’s $375 million Fox contract and 5% Raiders stake give the NFL legend two major post-retirement plays

Tom Brady earns about $37.5 million a year to talk football. That comes from his 10-year, $375 million contract with Fox. He also owns roughly 5 percent of the Las Vegas Raiders, a stake NFL owners approved 32-0 in October 2024. The broadcast job started rough. Brady struggled as Fox's lead analyst in year one, then adjusted, and Fox's NFL games averaged 18.7 million viewers in 2025-26, up 6 percent. Both deals come with limits.Tom Brady's $375 million Fox deal pays off after a rough first yearTom Brady used to be paid to take hits. Fox now pays him about $37.5 million a year to sit in a booth, more than the roughly $25 million he made at his playing peak. It is an odd twist for a quarterback whose biggest check arrived after retirement.The first season did not look like a bargain.By his own account, Brady watched his broadcasts and winced. "Why'd I say that?" he'd ask. "I didn't like that. That made no sense." He showed up with pages of notes and read too much of them, a habit he later called too much information. The prep buried the show instead of helping it.So he changed the process. He went back to preparing like a player: scouting matchups, guessing the next move, building a game plan. Year two landed better. Analyst Richard Deitsch said Brady sounded more "competent" and "lucid," and his breakdown of how receivers track deep balls by watching shoulder pads drew praise.His partner Kevin Burkhardt described the dynamic simply. "Tom's the quarterback," he said. "We're trying to be a good teammate and get open on third down for him."Brady is still tinkering. "Even now, I probably have too much information," he said. "I think next year I'm going to streamline it even more."How the Raiders stake limits what Brady can see and sayOwnership came with a fight. Brady and Knighthead Capital co-founder Tom Wagner agreed in May 2023 to buy about 10 percent of the Raiders from Mark Davis, with Brady holding 5 percent. Approval took 17 months. Owners worried Davis had given the pair too big a discount, and some feared a part-owner of one team would pick up inside details on rivals from the broadcast side.The league answered with restrictions.Brady cannot attend production meetings, in person or virtually. He has no access to team facilities, players or coaches. He can call Raiders games, but league rules bar him from publicly criticizing officials or other clubs. He also cannot play again unless he sells.The criticism rule is the one that costs him most. Viewers tune in to a former quarterback for blunt opinions, and Brady has to hold some of them back. Fox is paying for his voice with a few topics fenced off. How well that works will show up in the ratings.Get the latest Sports News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.