Tom Brady has become a minority owner of the English soccer team Birmingham FC, which, along with its stadium, was acquired by hedge fund manager Tom Wagner last month.

Forbes estimates that Brady got paid roughly $525 million over his 23 NFL seasons, $333 million from playing contracts, according to Spotrac, and more than $200 million from his endeavors off the field.

Why would Brady, who is also reportedly on the cusp of becoming an investor in the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders, want a piece of a second-tier, money-losing soccer team that finished 17th in England’s Championship League last season? In March, a spokesman for the Birmingham City Supporters’ Trust reportedly said: “We’re very concerned - the club’s been in decline for a number of years. The infrastructure is decaying, investment has been poor and there are on-going disciplinary issues with the Football League.”

Tax breaks, provided a couple of conditions are met.

Birmingham will likely lose money again this year and perhaps into the foreseeable fugure. The losses to which Brady is entitled would be passive activity losses, and hence non-deductible, unless Brady "materially participates" in the activity. In general, for him to be treated as materially participating, he would have to "participate in the activity for more than 500 hours during the taxable year.

That condition should be easily met by the seven-time Super Bowl winning quarterback. At Birmingham, Brady will become chairman of the new advisory board, working directly with the Birmingham’s board and members of its leadership team.

Next, Brady would also need to have sufficient basis in this partnership interest to "absorb" the loss. That should not be a problem either since Brady can include in his basis his share of the partnership's non-recourse liabilities.