NFL great Tom Brady got to know some of the locals ahead of his first home match as minority owner of English soccer team Birmingham City.
Brady made an appearance at The Roost, a pub near St. Andrew's stadium, before Birmingham's game against Leeds in the second-tier Championship on Saturday.
A few hours earlier, Brady posted on X, formerly known as Twitter: “Any plans before kick off guys? See you at St. Andrew’s.”
Brady then got to know the players as well by giving a pep talk before the game, Birmingham manager John Eustace said after his team scored a late goal to secure a 1-0 win.
“That is great, to have one of the most famous sporting people in the world come down and chat to the group," Eustace said. “They were all very excited to listen to him and he gave us some real good words of advice. I think you can see today his presence at the club (is a benefit), the vision that he’s got for the football club is amazing."
The seven-time Super Bowl champion has partnered with the club’s holding company, U.S.-based Knighthead Capital Management, and become chairman of a new advisory board.
Birmingham said Brady will “apply his extensive leadership experience and expertise across several components of the club.” That includes working alongside the sports science department to advise on health, nutrition and recovery programs.
Brady won six Super Bowls with the New England Patriots and another with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2021. He retired in February, after Tampa’s loss in the playoffs.
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19 Comments
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GBR48
quote: one of the most famous sporting people in the world.
He seemed like a pleasant chap, but I had not heard of him before. The NFL is not that big in the UK.
TokyoLiving
Big failure coming...
cuddly
86, 000 spectators watching an NFL game at Wembley last year.
Jimizo
I’d heard his name from US friends.
I gather he was very good at his sport and had a long career. Made a few quid.
Seems like a nice lad. Not so sure about the flasher mac and the shades though.
kintsugi
Americans invest in English football for profits. Even if they know little about the game. Birmingham fans are thrilled to have a famous owner.
https://oursportinglife.co.uk/football-statistics/
14 million British NFL fans and around 4 million of them are 'avid' fans.
Jimizo
Birmingham 14/1 to get promoted.
A bit generous according to some. Maybe 50/1 closer to reality.
Jimizo
*Generous to Birmingham
kintsugi
Brady is a minority owner.
The American Shelby Companies Limited will own 45.64% of Birmingham City PLC and all of the St. Andrews Stadium.
https://www.bcfc.com/news/all/club-statement-ownership-1
US-based Shelby Companies Limited (SCL), a subsidiary of Knighthead Capital Management.
Brady will become chairman of a new advisory board at St Andrew's.
He will be spending more time in Birmingham than in sunny Florida. Guess someone told him about English rain.
Paustovsky
That sounds very much like some creative marketing from the NFL.
I am not denying that NFL has fans in the UK, I'm a casual watcher, but you'd be hard pushed to find many Brits who have even basic knowledge of the sport. I haven't had the heart to tell my mate that the team he 'likes' has been the Las Vegas Raiders for 3 years now.
kintsugi
UKFL BY THE NUMBERS: IS AMERICAN FOOTBALL POPULAR IN THE UK?
https://teamukfl.com/blog/ukfl-by-the-numbers-is-american-football-popular-in-the-uk/
There are many other sites saying the same.
JohnnyTheWad
Sounds like a good time to get a little skin in the game on not to get promoted.
Paustovsky
That site is quoting the same creative data from the NFL.
A more accurate figure is mentioned in the amount of people applying for tickets for the NFL game at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
I'm going to be generous and suggest that figure is half of the total of NFL fans in the UK.
1.5 million seems much more realistic.
Jimizo
It does a bit but fair play. That’s their job.
It is reasonably popular though.
If it continues to grow, it might close the gap on say, women’s football in terms of viewership worldwide. NFL is an inferior product, but good marketing can do wonders.
cuddly
US ownership is fast taking over teams in the UK. The Premier League overall is basically a foreign-owned league that just happens to play in the UK.
Oh--except this summer, when some Premier League teams played in the US.
Guess since the best soccer player in the world chose the MLS over the Premier League, it wants to capitalize on the growing popularity of soccer in the US.
There is a reason why many of the Premier League teams failed financially under British ownership.
kintsugi
Americans and others invest in English football because of the huge potential for profits. It's about the money and never about the game. They know that the Premier League is the biggest in the world.
Why are they not investing in the MLS? Because the profits are much lower.
Birmingham City is not in the Premier League. But if they achieve that then the value of the club increases and the TV rights.
The Premier League is about TV rights.
The Premier League is the most-watched football league in the world, broadcast in 212 territories to 643 million homes and a potential TV audience of 4.7 billion people.
The MLS does not even come close.
kintsugi
There are about 10 American owners or part owners of Premier League Clubs and not all have been good for them including the current owners of Manchester United, the Glazers who have taken millions out of the club.
Jimizo
Hard for anyone to compete with oil barons/state-backing/sportswashing to be fair.
gcFd1
Unless you've been working in a coal mine you certainly know the name of one of the biggest names in one of the biggest sports. Oh and he was married to one of the biggest models in the world, Gisele Bündchen.
kintsugi
Tom Brady and his ex-wife are not known in England.