It’s a question that all sports stars face once their playing days come to an end. What shape will their life take once they’re no longer on the team?
Some go into coaching, others into the media. An increasing number find that the business world is only too willing to embrace them as motivational speakers to instil the competitive spirit into employees and to make them all think and act like winners.
But the bigger the sports star has been it seems like the greater the number of opportunities that present themselves.
Tom Brady is a classic case in point. Since retiring in 2023, arguably the best quarterback of all time has thrown himself into many new business ventures. He’s also hit the headlines for several other reasons, including his divorce from Gisele Buendchen as well as having his beloved pet dog Lua, cloned.
So, here’s a rundown of the five main areas in which Brady’s been focusing his attention.
Fox Sports
Fans of NFL sports betting will have been pleased to learn that shortly after retiring, he signed a ten-year $375 million contract to join Fox Sports as an expert analyst. His huge wealth of knowledge about the game will have meant that his tips on the teams and players to watch prove invaluable to sports bettors.
After starting on the college football show “Big Noon Kickoff” to find his feet, he has now graduated to become a leading pundit of the sport that’s given him so much.
Sports sponsorship
Even before retirement, Brady had a highly successful fashion business, prosaically called Brady Brand. Since retiring, he has negotiated a deal with the Hertz Team Jota racing team to become an official partners. The deal includes providing uniforms for the team’s staff as well as having his branding prominently displayed on the Porsche 963 driven in the FIA World Endurance Championship.
As a self-proclaimed big fan of motorsports, the deal is said to have been of major significance to Brady and one that is sure to introduce him to a whole new world of fandom.
Sports team ownership.
From being the most highly valued asset of the New England Patriots, earning an average of around 11 million dollars a year over a 20-year career, he has now moved into ownership himself in a very big way.
One of his first steps has been to take a minority stake in the women’s professional basketball team, the Las Vegas Aces. Brady is a confessed big fan of women’s sport, having been inspired by his older sisters when he was young, once pronouncing them as the best athletes in the Brady family.
He’s also taken a close interest in the city’s NFL team, the Raiders. It was a combination of admiration for the team’s late owner Al Davis and links to coach Josh McDaniels that led to his purchase of shares in the franchise. The fact that he also has history with the team’s number one quarterback, Jimmy Garoppolo, may well have been the clincher.
His sporting interests have also taken an aquatic turn with part ownership in the UIM E1 world championship. Alongside other sporting greats, including soccer player Didier Drogba, Rafa Nadal and Sergio Perez, who are also involved in the sport, his personal stake is in the form of the Team Brady.
Unlike most powerboat racing, all the vessels in the E1 championships are electric powered to protect the fragile marine ecosystem – a major selling point for the keen environmentalist Brady.
Last, but not least, there’s a hint of Ted Lasso in his involvement with the English soccer club Birmingham FC. Although a confessed rookie when it comes to the sport, he is well-equipped to fulfil one of his main responsibilities, namely, to increase global marketing for the team.
Business interests
Always the highest of fliers, it seems only logical that Brady has also been put on the payroll at Delta Airlines.
His role will be to be a motivator for staff as well as to participate in specific marketing campaigns for the airline. His own mother was a flight attendant for many years and this is thought to have been one of his key motivations for signing the Delta contract.
Goat Gummies
Nutrition has also always played a part in his sporting lifestyle, so it also comes as no surprise that one of Brady’s most recent business ventures has been GOAT Gummies. These fruit-flavored vegan sweets have been getting rave reviews so it looks like he’s onto another winning streak with these.
And you know what they say – that once a GOAT, always a GOAT in whichever field they choose to operate.
So we expect to see many more business ventures in the years to come, all in the supremely safe hands of Mr Brady.
