Tom Brady wants to be like Ryan Reynolds
Tom Brady is back in football.
Well, soccer, depending on your point of view.
The retired quarterback announced on Thursday that he had become the minority owner of Birmingham City. According to a statement released by the club, “[s]even-time Super Bowl champion and entrepreneur Tom Brady has entered a partnership with Knighthead Capital Management LLC to become a minority owner of Birmingham City Ltd.”
Birmingham City has been in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football, since 2011. They finished 17th last season.
Brady will become the chairman of the club’s new Advisory Board, where he will “apply his extensive leadership experience and expertise across several components of the Club, including working alongside the sports science department to advise on health, nutrition, wellness, and recovery systems and programs.”
Brady is expected to take on a big role in marketing as well.
“In addition, Brady will work closely with the Board and the management team on global marketing efforts and the identification of new commercial partnership opportunities for the Club.”
This is not Brady’s first foray into ownership. He purchased an ownership stake in the Las Vegas Aces last spring.
Brady shared the news on social media Thursday morning, talking about being an underdog himself:
Brady is the latest NFL player to take on such a role with an English soccer club. J.J. Watt announced in May that he and his wife Kealia — a former NWSL player who made three appearances for the USWNT — were becoming minority owners of Burnley F.C.
Burnley earned promotion back into the Premier League at the end of this past season, and Watt took to social media to welcome Brady, sharing his hopes that Burnley would see Birmingham in the Premier League soon:
well well well, what do we have here…
Happy for you, wishing Birmingham all the best and hope to see you in the PL real soon!
Up The Clarets!@BurnleyOfficial
— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) August 3, 2023
Both Watt and Brady are probably hoping to have the kind of success with their ventures as we have seen with Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. The two actors took over ownership of Wrexham A.F.C., a club in Wales competing in the National League — the fifth-highest level of English soccer — back in November of 2020.
Boosted by their investment — and the docuseries Welcome to Wrexham — the club has generated worldwide interest, and earned promotion this past season to EFL League Two.
Now Brady is hoping to write a Hollywood ending of his own.
Maybe for the second time, when you consider his NFL career.
