TB12’s next chapter after his retirement from football? Taking his talents — and massive business acumen — the to the ever-expanding worlds of NFTs, Web3, and beyond.
Over the last couple of weeks, you’ve probably heard a lot about what Tom Brady might do. Today, we’re talking about what Tom Brady’s actually done — taking a major first step of what’s quite likely to be a full-on virtual seven-step drop into the metaverse.
The recently retired (for now) NFL GOAT applied to trademark “TOM BRADY” on Monday, according to attorney Mike Kondoudis, and it appears TB12 is eyeing the metaverse as his next arena.
“TOM BRADY”
- Description: The official filing simply states, “The mark consists of TOM BRADY SIGNATURE.”
- What it’s for: Non-fungible tokens (NFT), downloadable virtual goods, such as “computer programs for the creation and trade of digital collectibles using blockchain-based software technology and smart contracts. Downloadable digital media is also included, “namely, digital collectibles … in the nature of photos, images, and videos of players, games, game footage, game highlights, and virtual experiences in the field of sports, entertainment, fashion and pop culture.”
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The trademark was filed in California with attorney Perry Viscounty of the Orange County-based law firm Latham & Watkins and signals a huge move by Brady into all things Web3.
This news comes just a few days after Brady filed for a whopping 26 patents, also under “TOM BRADY” — covering everything from food delivery services, meal plans, retail boutique shopping, acupuncture services, and even a deodorant.
While there are rumors of the seven-time Super Bowl champion returning to the NFL in 2022 with his hometown San Francisco 49ers — or calls for him to join the XFL next year in exchange for an equity stake in the rebooted league — Brady’s making his intentions very clear.
But Brady’s interest in the space isn’t exclusive to his retirement. Last summer, with still one year left to come as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback, Brady and his wife, Gisele, established an equity stake in the crypto firm FTX. That led to a series of FTX commercials last fall.
Now that football is seemingly off his plate, the shoe-in Hall of Famer can totally focus on building his off-field empire.
Brady’s NFT platform Autograph raised $170 million in January and looks like it’ll be a major force in that industry. The BRADY Brand clothing line is only going to expand in 2022, and he’s producing and acting in a film project entitled 80 For Brady alongside Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, Rita Moreno, and Sally Field. He clearly has grand plans for using his name and the TB12 likeness for, potentially, everything under the sun.
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