The Relationship of Tom Brady and Birmingham City

by Richard Janvrin, April 09, 2025

Tom Brady, a seven-time Super Bowl champion, five-time Super Bowl MVP, three-time league MVP, and the holder of an obscene number of NFL records, has recently gotten involved with other sports, including soccer.

He recently invested in Birmingham City FC. This was a team that you used to be able to do EFL Championship betting on, but they’ve since been relegated to EFL League One. This is the third tier of English football.

Below, I’ll examine the Tom Brady/Birmingham City effect, including how he got involved, expert finance opinions of the transaction, him assisting the sports science department, and more.

• Tom Brady Moving to Soccer
• The New Spotlight
• Fan Opinion
• Helping Sports Science Department
• Commercial Partnerships

Tom Brady Moving to Soccer

Tom Brady/Birmingham City got into business on Aug. 3, 2023. Tom Brady’s Birmingham percentage of ownership is about 3.3%.

Does Tom Brady own Birmingham City? Yes, a small percentage.

Brady owns 333 “B” shares and has no voting rights. He invested in Shelby Companies Limited (SCL), a subsidiary of Knighthead Capital Management.

SCL now has a controlling stake in the club.

However, after Brady got involved, the team finished poorly enough to be relegated to EFL League One.

This comes after Brady invested in the Las Vegas Aces of the WNBA and now owns a substantial chunk of the Las Vegas Raiders.

The New Spotlight

It didn’t take long for Brady’s name being associated with the club to generate instant interest.

According to Birmingham City owner Tom Wagner, there was a plethora of social media activity.

“For instance, during a 10-day period in August, coinciding with the announcement of seven-time Super Bowl champion and entrepreneur Tom Brady’s minority ownership in the club, Birmingham City became the most talked-about football team in the world, generating over 17 billion positive media impressions“, Wagner said.

So, it remains to be seen how long that’ll last, especially with their recent relegation.

Brady has 15.2 million followers on Instagram and three million on X.

In fact, Tom Brady wears a Birmingham FC jersey in his X profile picture. He frequently posts about the club.

In his video announcing he got involved with the ownership, Brady said, “So here’s the deal. I’m officially coming on board at Birmingham City Football Club. And you may be asking, what do you know about English football, Tom? Well, let’s just say I’ve got a lot to learn. But I do know a few things about winning. I think they might translate pretty well. I know success starts with the work put in when the world isn’t watching. I know that a team is nothing without the city that shows up and stands behind them. I know I like being the underdog. The roads have been long for Birmingham, but these fans have never stopped believing. We’ve got a song that says, ‘No matter what, keep right on til the end of the road,’ and I’ll be on that road with you. I’ll see you at St. Andrews soon. It’s time to get to work. Let’s go.”

That video was released on Aug. 3, 2023, and currently has 11.9 million views.

Financial experts such as Christina Philippou, an expert from Portsmouth University, have weighed in.

She told BBC Radio 5 the following:

“What’s obvious is he’s put some money in as a minority owner,” she said.

“More money coming in is good for Birmingham City. Their general financial situation is not great, as is the case with most of the Championship.”

“Tom Brady’s new role is on a new advisory board, and that’s not the same as being on the board of directors.”

“Advisory boards are generally advisory, so they can give advice which the board can or choose not to take on board. It really will depend on how this is set up and what the new advisory board looks like, and that will become more obvious as time passes.”

Fan Opinion

Building off the Brady spotlight, it’s important to know how fans of the club feel.

ESPN spoke with several Birmingham FC fans who had a lot to say.

“The overseas investment from the U.S. guys is making a massive difference to the club,” one Birmingham fan told ESPN before Birmingham played Lincoln. “You can see from today that it’s a lower-league cup game, and everybody is still turning up.”

Other fans are optimistic.

“There were teething problems at first, but we’d been struggling for over 10 years, and you can’t turn an oil tanker around overnight,” said another Birmingham fan. “The fans are still turning out because we don’t mind. We can accept a few mistakes along the way because the transformation in the club has been amazing. Regardless of relegation, it’s got the fans back interested.

“There are more people at the stadium now [in League One] than there were last season, so we’re definitely turning. I think we’ll be back in the top half of the Championship next year!”

Even fans of Birmingham FC who didn’t watch Brady play in the NFL are looking forward to it.

“Brady is a proven winner and he’s hopefully instilling that here at Birmingham City. Hopefully we can go and win as many leagues and trophies as he did,” said one fan, who admitted that he hadn’t followed Brady’s NFL playing career closely. “I’m not massive on my NFL, but his name is very familiar. I don’t watch American football. But I still knew who Tom Brady was, which shows that he’s still got a big presence in the U.K.

“Birmingham fans have been wanting investment for a long time, so I think we’d have taken anything, but having Brady as the face of the club is brilliant. It shows we’ve got high-caliber people trying to get our club where we want to be.”

Helping Sports Science Department

Tom Brady’s investment in Birmingham City goes beyond just money, though.

Part of Brady’s role with Birmingham City FC involves him as the chairman of a new advisory board. He’ll assist with the sports science department, advising them on various programs related to health, recovery, and nutrition. This makes sense, given his proven track record with the “TB12 method”, which helped him play well into his 40s.

Commercial Partnerships

In addition to helping the athletes stay healthy and recover faster, any time you have Brady’s name associated with a brand, commercial deals and sponsorships are always part of it.

He’s also working with the commercial department to find them opportunities.

“Tom is both investing and committing his time and extensive expertise”, Wagner said when Brady came aboard. “The goal that Tom has committed to own is to make Birmingham City a respected leader in nutrition, health, wellness, and recovery across the world of football.”