Venue Detail
New England Patriots
Revenues From Sports Venues Pro Facilities Report
February, 2012
New England Patriots
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1 Patriots Pl Foxboro, MA 02035 Phone: 508-543-8200 Fax: 508-543-9041 URL: www.patriots.com Owner: Robert Kraft League: National Football League, AFC East
Venue
Gillette Stadium, 1 Patriots Pl, Foxboro, MA 02035 Owner: Robert Kraft Managed by: Team Built: 2002 Capacity: 68,000 Permanent concession stands: 46 Concessionaire: Team Suite caterer: Team Soft drink: Pepsi Cola
Naming rights
Sold to: Gillette Term: 15 years Expires: 2017
Ticket prices
Season tickets range from $650 to $1,690 Single tickets range from $35.00 to $169.00
Attendance
2009 average attendance: 68,756 2010 average attendance: 68,756 2011 average attendance: 68,756
Suites
Quantity: 80 Term: 10 to 10 years Price: $85,000 to $305,000 Includes: Tickets.
Club seats
Quantity: 6,000 Term: 10 to 10 years Price: $3,750 to $6,000 Includes: Tickets.
Financing
The venue was privately financed. The state paid for $70 million in infrastructure improvements. The Patriots will pay $1 million a year in easement fees.
The Krafts are considering moving the Revolution out of the stadium and into their own venue. The family has invested $150,000 toward a study of the development potential of Somerville's largely industrial Brickbottom and Inner Belt districts.
The study is expected to look at a number of possible uses for the 120 acres, including a Major League Soccer stadium.
Somerville officials said the Krafts are following in the footsteps of the developers of the giant $1 billion-plus Assembly Square project, who also paid for a series of studies.
It only makes sense for both the Krafts and the city to figure out what development might be possible at the Brickbottom and Inner Belt site, said Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone.
The study has new urgency because state transportation officials recently rolled out plans for an extension of the Green Line trolley into Somerville that calls for using part of the Brickbottom and Inner Belt site for a train-maintenance facility.
That has sparked concern among city officials, who would rather see the site dramatically overhauled with everything from a soccer stadium to a biotech complex that would lure firms from nearby Cambridge.
“There have been some initial discussions,” said Stacey James, a spokesman for the Krafts. “The next step is to see the viability.”
James added that the Kraft Group is also looking at other development sites in other communities.
The team now plays at Gillette Stadium which was built after the Patriots nearly moved to Connecticut where legislators approved a $375 million proposal to build a stadium and convention center.
The Patriots said they decided to walk when it became clear the promised new stadium would not be ready until 2002 and perhaps later. The delay was longer than the team could stand. The delays would cost the team $100 million annually in revenue it would need to remain competitive. It could also expect to lose money in Foxboro as fans abandoned the lame-duck team.
The decision was also made easier by work done by the NFL to keep the team in the Boston market. The league put together the stadium plan and pre-sold luxury suites to make the financing deal work. It was also able to cut a deal with political leaders to pay for the infrastructure work. Owner Robert Kraft funded the stadium out of his own pocket and with a loan from the NFL.
The Hartford deal was controversial and said to be the most generous offered to an NFL team. Under that deal, Kraft would have invested $75 million for a hotel to go with the convention center plus $20 million for an NFL entertainment complex and $5 million for a wellness center. In return the state would put up $265 million in bonds to build the open air stadium. A 10 percent ticket tax would fund the debt payments along with sales taxes and income taxes associated with the team's move to the state. The state would spend another $90 million on infrastructure around the project. The state would also absorb any cost overruns except on changes requested by the team. The team would keep all revenue from concessions, tickets and naming rights.
Connecticut also guaranteed up to $10 million on the sale of club seating if sales earned $20 million or less. Likewise, the state would pay up to $7.5 million if luxury suite sales were $5 million or less.
In Massachusetts, the winning plan called for owner Robert Kraft to privately finance a $250 million stadium next to the former Foxboro Stadium. The NFL loaned up to half of Kraft's cost. The state paid for $70 million in infrastructure improvements around the stadium. Kraft also pays nearly $1 million a year in easement fees.
The Patriots sold 6,000 club seats in their new stadium at prices of up to $6,000. The 2,000 seats between the 20 and 30 yard lines are priced at $3,750 each with the seats between the 30 and 40 yard lines at $4,750 each and those between the 40-yard lines at $6,000. A club behind the seats will "run from goal line to goal line directly behind the outside club seating area providing for unlimited in-and-out access during the game," according to the sales brochure. One parking pass will be given for every four seats purchased in the lower-priced levels. A pass comes with every two seats purchased at the $6,000 level. A private access road will lead club seat holders to a premium parking area.
The final wow came as the team called a substitution and changed stadium naming rights sponsors just before the new venue opened for the NFL season. The team substituted Gillette for CMGi and the venue is now known as Gillette Stadium.
Terms of the 15-year deal were not disclosed. CMGi paid $114 million over 15 years when it signed its deal in 2000, but problems among technology companies have tightened the firm's budget. CMGi will continue as a team sponsor, but will pay $1.6 million instead of the $7.6 million it agreed to under the naming rights deal. The new sponsorship is for 13 years.
Once in their new stadium, the Patriots continued to wow their fans with Super Bowl wins and special attention given to VIPs.
A new premium the Patriots are offering is intended to give the team a unique position in a crowded market and cater to the needs of high-end customers.
The exclusive offers, mailed to holders of Patriots' premium seats in 2005, go well beyond the leather chairs, hot dogs, and flat screen television sets that have become standard features in luxury suites at sports stadiums around the country.
The Patriots offer premium ticket holders a place on the team's charter plane, so they can travel to away games with the players. One premium seat buyer was paired with the team's private jet service to rent four planes to fly business clients to the game in style. The planes, which cost $2,250 to $5,200 an hour, include leather furniture and a menu ranging from a chicken breast stuffed with provolone cheese, porcini mushrooms, oven-dried tomatoes, and arugula to a Thai chili and soy marinated roasted lamb rack.
They also partnered with a luxury vacation company, Dream Catcher, which has a stock of multi-million dollar homes all over the world, to offer lower rates. Patriots premium ticket holders pay for 30 days in homes valued at more than $3 million apiece, where they can sip chardonnay in Napa Valley next to a vineyard or walk the golf courses at Kiawah Island. The discounted cost: a $255,000 one-time membership deposit, plus $8,500 for the first year and $17,000 annually after that.
Luxury retailers love the idea of access to an exclusive list of wealthy customers. But the idea makes sense for the Patriots as well because the team can offer its wealthiest fans exclusive benefits they cannot get anywhere else, said the team's chief marketing officer, Lou Imbriano.
The Revolution offers access to the Fidelity Clubhouse for $954 per season or $65 per game. The President's Club is $1,296 per season. (Facilities, Financial, Football, NFL, Professional Sports)