The NFL Commissioner weighed in on the hottest league controversy this month, and he echoed what others around the league have said this month.
Roger Goodell put the onus on NFL teams to protect sensitive information while participating in production meetings with Tom Brady in his capacity as lead NFL analyst with FOX Sports.
Brady, of course, is also a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders, owning roughly 5 percent of the team since October 2024.
Goodell opened up to CNBC reporter Alex Sherman for his newsletter. Aside from discussing Brady, Goodell also addressed expansion and the league’s potential media-rights expansion.
Goodell On Brady: ‘Where’s the Conflict?’
Though independent media members have pointed out the perceived conflict of interest of a minority owner — who reportedly participates in Raiders offensive gameplans and discusses concepts with Las Vegas offensive coordinator Chip Kelly — Goodell apparently doesn’t see it that way since Brady is barred from visiting rival teams’ facilities.
“Where’s the conflict?” Goodell continued. “He’s not hanging around in the facilities. We don’t allow that.”
Under the terms of Brady’s ownership approval, he is required to do interviews with coaches and players remotely and is barred from attending practices and getting other access. Brady, himself, opened up about it in a blog post on his website Wednesday.
Goodell’s logic has been backed by current coaches like Brian Schottenheimer and Ben Johnson. The coach of the Chicago Bears said “there’s not going to be any trade secrets that are going to be exchanged,” according to ESPN.
According to Sherman, “Goodell was animated when speaking about the perceived conflict of interest. He fundamentally dismissed the notion that there was a problem.”
“Teams have the right to say whatever they want,” Goodell said. “They don’t have to disclose information if they think it’s a conflict of interest. We have a lot of former players in those meetings who are close to their former teams. Our clubs are smart enough to say, ‘I’m not sharing something with him.’”
NFL ‘Could’ Expand Outside the United States, per Roger Goodell
The NFL has had 32 teams for 23 years and surprisingly, the topic of expansion has not come up in recent years, despite open markets like St. Louis, San Diego, San Antonio and others.
Still, Sherman asked Goodell about expanding internationally, which has apparently piqued the commissioner’s interest.
“I don’t know if I could predict that, but I would say that the markets outside the U.S. are very, very attractive,” said Goodell, “and we’ve got pretty good coverage here.”
Goodell and the NFL are openly flirting with London as a potential expansion market, since the league has played more games there since opening games in the United Kingdom in 2007.
The Minnesota Vikings will play the first of two straight games in Great Britain on Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Dublin, Ireland before playing the Cleveland Browns the London on Oct. 5.
Minnesota’s game against Cleveland will be the first of three games in London this season, and Goodell explained why it is attractive, albeit challenging, as a potential NFL market.
“There are markets that could certainly support a team,” Goodell said. “We’ve always focused on, what are the competitive consequences of that? Can we manage that, and so every year we try to learn something from the international series.”