By Jon Grossman
Feb. 24, 2022
Photo Credit: Associated Press
Over the past couple decades, Tom Brady has been living two different lives: his life on the gridiron and his life undertaking various business ventures off the field. However, now that Brady has made the decision to retire (at least for now), his focus has entirely shifted to his vast portfolio of businesses.
Late last year, Brady launched his new, high-end clothing brand alongside co-founder Jens Grede, the mastermind behind Kim Kardashian’s Skims brand. The goal, as stated by Gerde, is to create “the finest sports brand in the world.” The instant reaction here is to draw a comparison between Brady and Michael Jordan, the athlete that most successfully monetized his name, image, and likeness. I’m here to tell you why Brady is primed to match Jordan’s success and potentially reach even greater heights than his counterpart on the basketball court.
Brady’s wide array of business pursuits are nothing new. He has sponsorship deals with companies such as Under Armour, Fanatics, and FTX that regularly generate millions of dollars. In fact, Brady’s endorsements reportedly earned him close to $15 million in 2019 alone, which leads us to expect similar numbers through the end of his career and beyond. Brady has also founded Autograph (NFTs) and 199 Productions, in addition to the TB12 health & wellness brand that has been around since 2013. Additionally, he’s capitalized on the growing NIL space in college sports, signing Michigan quarterback Cade McNamara to his clothing line, among other college athletes.
Obviously, Tom Brady is at an advantage to attain massive success off the field given his performance in the league over the last 20-plus years. However, Brady’s mindset and winning mentality sets him apart from other athletes.
First of all, the most impressive thing about Brady’s businesses is that he built them from the ground up while still playing football at an elite level. There’s no signs of this relentless mentality slowing down post-retirement, either — the director of Tom vs. Time documentary, Gotham Chopra, explained that ““Everything in [Tom’s] life is about, ‘How do I do this thing? How do I get better?’” Chopra says. “The outside world is like, ‘No, you can’t get better. No one’s been better,’ and he’s always like, ‘No, I can, I can.’”
This attitude, coupled with his shift in personality since moving to Tampa, has primed him to turn the Brady brand into something special. Brady has loosened up since moving to Tampa, displaying more of his true personality, which in turn has made him more relatable and understanding of who his audience is.
Perhaps this understanding will be refreshing for consumers and lead to the next great brand at the intersection of sports and fashion. We’ll have to wait and see.