ATLANTA — NFL owners voted in favor of Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis’ sale of a minority stake in the franchise at the league’s fall owners’ meetings Tuesday. Former NFL quarterback Tom Brady, former NFL defensive lineman Richard Seymour and businessman Tom Wagner, the co-founder of Knighthead Capital Management, were approved as minority owners.
Davis sold about 10.5 percent of the Raiders, according to league sources. Brady and Wagner purchased about 5 percent each, according to league sources. Sports Illustrated reported Tuesday that Seymour acquired about 0.5 percent. The prices Brady, Wagner and Seymour paid for their respective shares were undisclosed.
Brady will continue his role as a game analyst on Fox. The NFL has already placed restrictions on Brady, which he agreed to before the start of this season, according to a league source. He’s not allowed access to other teams’ facilities and practices, nor can he attend broadcast production meetings, which usually include meetings with coaches and players ahead of games.
He’s also not allowed to publicly criticize officials or other teams and could be fined or suspended if the league feels he breaks that policy. He also must abide by the league’s gambling and anti-tampering policies and is limited to “strictly social communication” with members of other teams.
Davis remains the Raiders’ controlling owner. That means he has the final say over all decisions concerning the franchise and is the only one who has voting rights at the NFL owners’ meetings.
In fact, Davis could sell nearly all of his stakes in the Raiders and would still be the controlling owner. As of 2022, the NFL dropped the minimum percentage of a team that a longstanding owner must control from 5 percent to 1 percent for teams that have had the same owner for at least 10 years. Davis has owned the team since his father Al Davis died in 2011, so he would fall into that group.
For someone else to become the controlling owner, they would need to acquire at least a 30 percent stake in the franchise. They would also need to own more shares than Davis and his mother Carol Davis, the co-owner of the team. Davis, 69, has no siblings and is single with no children. If that remains the case, when he and his mother die, the franchise would likely be put up for sale.
Of course, Davis could decide to pass the ownership torch while he’s still living. Brady, Wagner and Seymour, among others, could theoretically make a push to pull that off at some point. That could be more important down the road, but the most relevant point to monitor for the Raiders in the immediate future is the level of influence Brady and Seymour have, in particular.
Davis has been open about the fact that he doesn’t possess the football acumen that his father did and has expressed a desire to fill that void in football operations. Leaning on a pair of Hall of Fame players could be a means of remedying that.
I’m deeply grateful—humbled and honored—to become a NFL owner. This is the mission of a lifetime, and I accept it with both purpose and pride. With great opportunity comes great responsibility. And I pledge to be a worthy steward of our game—and all it makes possible. @Raiders
— Richard Seymour (@BigSey93) October 15, 2024
Seymour has already been involved in making important decisions for the franchise. He joined Davis, team president Sandra Douglass Morgan, board member Larry Delsen, senior vice president Tom Delaney and adviser Ken Herock on the interview panel that led to the hirings of general manager Tom Telesco and coach Antonio Pierce this offseason. Brady could eventually be involved, as well.
This development comes as the Raiders are in a period of transition. In their first year with Pierce and Telesco at the helm, they sit at 2-4 and traded receiver Davante Adams to the New York Jets earlier on Tuesday for a conditional third-round draft pick. The team hasn’t made the playoffs since 2021, hasn’t won a playoff game since 2002 and doesn’t look close to ending either of those streaks this season.
Davis bears the lion’s share of the responsibility for getting the Raiders back on the right track. Now, he’s got some more help to figure things out.
(Photo: Matthew Pearce / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
