Media insider expands on Tom Brady, Fox 'conflict of interest' take

Media insider Jimmy Traina of Sports Illustrated has routinely disagreed with Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk and others who have insisted that Las Vegas Raiders minority owner Tom Brady serving as Fox's lead in-game NFL analyst is a conflict of interest. 

For a mailbag published on Wednesday, Traina expanded on why Brady is allowed to be in both roles for the foreseeable future. 

"It’s possible because it’s not a big deal at all," Traina directly explained. "This is a football game. It’s not something important. Viewers will be able to survive Brady’s conflict of interest in calling a Raiders game. We all know Brady has a 5% stake in the Raiders. We all know Brady will be pulling for the Raiders if he calls one of their games. We all know Brady won’t be objective. I think that adds an element of intrigue to the broadcast."

Traina was referencing how the Raiders' hiring of one-time Super Bowl champion Pete Carroll as their next head coach could result in Fox putting at least one Las Vegas game in a 4:25 p.m. ET standalone slot this coming fall. Brady and lead play-by-play announcer Kevin Burkhardt would almost certainly be assigned that contest unless the league stepped in, something that wasn't an issue for TB12 during the 2024 season. 

By all accounts, Brady adequately followed strict guidelines regarding what he could do and say before and during game broadcasts as a minority owner of a franchise throughout this season. He made it known earlier this month he plans to continue working for Fox through at least the 2025 campaign even though it's now no secret he's also heavily involved in the Raiders' ongoing rebuild. 

"Different people can do different things or get away with things that others can’t at pretty much every sports media company," Traina mentioned in a different portion of the mailbag. To put it another way, Florio has repeatedly said and written that owners view Brady as "their cool friend" and, thus, will let him work games seemingly for as long as he wants. 

Brady will finish the first season of his 10-year, $375M Fox deal when he calls Super Bowl LIX for the network on Feb. 9.