Report: Tom Brady To Launch Sports Media Startup With Michael Strahan, Gotham Chopra
By Michael Hurley, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- Tom Brady's retirement plans will include more than just diet and exercise.
According to a report from Tech Crunch, Brady will be working with Michael Strahan and Gotham Chopra to turn their "Religion of Sports" project into a full-fledged startup.
Riding the success of Brady and Chopra's "Tom Vs. Time" series on Facebook, the trio along with Ameeth Sankaran "want to create a multi-platform storytelling business that functions like an old-school studio — dedicated to sports — that tells the best stories in the medium that's most appropriate for them."
"Tom Vs. Time," which was made available on Facebook Watch over the past month, averaged more than 8 million views across its five online episodes. Clearly, the group believes it can ride that level of success to the production of more documentaries.
Previously, they worked together for a docuseries called "Religion of Sports," and Brady added the #ROS hashtag to his Facebook post after winning Super Bowl LI against the Falcons. So the business has been around for some time. Now, it appears as though it's going to take a major step forward.
Tech Crunch said the concept of the business is difficult to explain because there's no entity quite like it.
"[Religion Of Sports] is neither The Players' Tribune, Derek Jeter's media platform for athletes to tell their own stories, nor TraceMe, Russell Wilson's access-focused app for athletes and celebrities," Jonathan Shieber wrote. "Think of it as a new media contender to old line properties like ESPN — with celebrity athletes and producers driving the creation of new properties."
It essentially hopes to be a simplified network for storytelling.
"Traditional networks and brands have so much experience and traction in the storytelling space that I see most of them being major leaders for a very long time to come, but I think some new players will definitely continue to push them!" Brady wrote to Tech Crunch. "In general, I think the most authentic and emotionally engaging storytelling will rise to the top."
According to the report, the group is looking for $3 million in outside capital.
Brady threw for a Super Bowl-record 505 yards in a loss to the Eagles, so his plan to play through his early 40s appears to still be on track. But once that playing career does end -- and perhaps even earlier -- it looks as though participating in a major way to modern filmmaking will be another passion project for Brady to help keep him busy.
