How Kraft Outfoxed Rivals to Buy the Patriots

Published on September 2nd, 2025 4:15 pm EST
Written By: Dave Manuel


Robert Kraft didn't just stumble into NFL ownership. He schemed his way in, step by step, until the New England Patriots were his. The story starts in the parking lot - literally. In 1985, Kraft bought a parcel of land next to Sullivan Stadium in Foxborough for $22 million. That land wasn't just dirt and asphalt. It was leverage. The lots generated millions annually from game-day parking, but more importantly, they gave Kraft control over the stadium's surroundings.

The Patriots at that time were owned by the Sullivan family, who were financially stretched thanks to a disastrous investment in the Michael Jackson Victory Tour. They still had the team, but they didn't control the land around it. If you wanted to host Patriots fans, you needed Kraft's lots. By 1988, Kraft had full control of the parking and later the stadium lease itself, buying Sullivan Stadium out of bankruptcy for $25 million. The deal gave him veto power over any attempt to relocate the team, since the lease bound the Patriots to Foxborough until 2001.

Fast forward to 1994. James Orthwein, a St. Louis businessman, bought the Patriots in 1992 for $106 million. Orthwein wanted to move the team to St. Louis, rebrand them, and walk away. But Kraft stood in the way. Thanks to the stadium lease, Orthwein couldn't break free without Kraft's consent. No lease, no relocation. Orthwein had a problem: a buyer who wanted to move the team, and a landlord who refused to play ball.

Kraft called the bluff. He offered $172 million for the franchise, a record price at the time, topping the $140 million that Georgia Frontiere had paid for the Rams a few years earlier. Orthwein had no choice. He couldn't move the Patriots, and Kraft's offer was too rich to refuse. Just like that, Kraft owned the team he had been circling for nearly a decade.

It was a masterclass in patience and leverage. Control the land, control the lease, control the outcome. Kraft didn't need NFL connections or family wealth to buy his way into the league. He needed parking lots. By 2023, Forbes valued the Patriots at $6.4 billion, the second-most valuable team in the NFL behind the Dallas Cowboys. Kraft's original $22 million parking lot investment helped set that chain in motion.