• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, June 1, 2022

Live sports is so important to so many TV networks and traditional media companies that now those analyzing TV sports -- from the press box -- have become more important to sell their image. And advertising inventory.

Fox Corp. has made a reported $375 million 10-year deal with six-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback Tom Brady to do just that: Be an NFL sports TV analyst (once he retires from the game).

Lachlan Murdoch, executive chairman and chief executive officer of Fox Corp., told Axios that the near $400 million-deal levels are “directionally right."

All that comes to on average $37.5 million dollars a year -- which is more than Brady has made as an athlete. Over a 20-year career, Brady has made a collective $300 million. In the last two years -- 2020 and 2021 -- he made $28.4 million and $39.4 million, respectively, according to Spotrac.

For years, we have seen retiring athletes on TV as in-game or sports show TV analysts. This was a good after-pro sports life job -- after the big moneymaking years of being an athlete. But to make more as an off-field TV expert than being a star on the field? That's new.

Growth in everything TV-related sports content continues to climb -- into the millions and billions.

Think about the $100 billion in collective NFL sports TV rights fees over the next 11 years. Fox Corp. is paying $22.3 billion, double the yearly fee of the previous deal -- a hike that is similar to what CBS, NBC, and ABC/ESPN also incurred.

Now add Brady to the picture for Fox.

What’s another $400 million over that same time span going to perhaps the best NFL quarterback ever being a major brand profile for your company -- this for a package of TV programming that represents around 60% of your viewership and advertising revenue? It’s a layoff -- to mix up a sports reference.

Ask yourself what ABC/ESPN might give NBA's LeBron James if he decides to go the same route or what Fox/Turner Network might offer up for a big Major League Baseball deal to get Mike Trout or Max Scherzer if they do the off-field, sideline thing?

What if the NHL offered Sidney Crosby a big deal?

Figure that ever-higher sports TV rights fees need an additive push to find new ways to embolden sports TV growth -- in terms of viewership. But more importantly, to find ever-higher ways to get advertisers to pay for access to this so-called premium TV content.

There's more than just easy passing touchdowns at play here.

Could there be a new TV sports financial dynamic? With a non-player TV analyst making more millions than players?