Mitchell Leff/Getty Images

NFL Changes Broadcasting Restrictions For Tom Brady Ahead Of Week 1

Originally posted on The Spun | By Tzvi Machlin | Last updated Aug 27, 2025 10:06 AM ET

The NFL has decided to modify their broadcasting rules for the 2025 season in order to make things a little easier for FOX NFL color commentator and former quarterback Tom Brady.

Last year, in Brady's first season at the network, he was restricted from attending production meetings due to the conflict of interest in him owning a minority stake in the Las Vegas Raiders. But according to sports media insider Andrew Marchand of The Athletic, the league has decided to change its rules and will now allow Brady to attend those production meetings. However, he will still be barred from attending practices of other teams.

In Tom Brady’s rookie broadcasting year, he played by a special set of rules due to his Raiders ownership stake. The NFL relented for the Super Bowl.

Now? The “Brady Rules” are basically done, sources tell @AndrewMarchand.
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) August 27, 2025

Prompting the change

The change in the rules could stem from other NFL teams offering to lift the prohibition in specific cases.

ProFootballTalk's Mike Florio noted that last year the Buffalo Bills were willing to waive the prohibition so he could participate in production meetings ahead of a game against the Seattle Seahawks. But the league would not allow Buffalo to waive the restriction.

“Maybe he doesn’t really want to go to practices or attend production meetings or talk on the phone to coaches and players in order to best prepare for games. That’s the conclusion that was reached by at least one person involved in efforts to get the league to waive the Tom Brady Broadcast Rules. It’s not that the league is keeping him down. It’s that Brady doesn’t want to put in the work, and that the restrictions provide him with a quick and easy excuse to avoid doing it," Florio wrote last year.

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - JANUARY 12: Former NFL Player Tom Brady looks on prior to the NFC Wild Card Playoff between the Green Bay Packers and the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field on January 12, 2025 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)Mitchell Leff/Getty Images

But the NFL also showed a willingness to bend on the biggest stage. Since FOX was broadcasting last year's Super Bowl, they waived the restriction then to allow Brady to attend production meetings for Super Bowl LIX.

Suffice it to say, neither the NFL nor the teams seem to think that prohibition is some sacred tradition that can't be changed.

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

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