Kraft Group and Patriots Sue Foxborough Over $1 Million Fees
Kraft Sports and Entertainment LLC and the New England Patriots sued foxborough on Tuesday, escalating a fight over the renewal of Gillette Stadium’s entertainment license and the fees tied to it. The case was filed in Norfolk Superior Court as the stadium prepares for seven World Cup matches.
The 52-page lawsuit says the town was “repeatedly misusing its state-granted licensing authority unlawfully to extract funds from Plaintiffs.” It also argues that the conditions placed on the renewal exceed Foxborough’s statutory authority because they amount to an illegal tax.
Norfolk Superior Court filing
The new complaint says Foxborough used the April renewal of the World Cup entertainment license as a pretext to charge about $1 million in new administrative fees. The plaintiffs say state authorization allows the town to charge no more than $100 annually to renew the stadium’s entertainment license.
Kraft Sports and co-plaintiffs New England Patriots LLC, Kraft Soccer LLC, and NPS LLC are seeking a judicial order voiding the renewal terms to the extent they require financial consideration. The filing puts the issue back in court after March talks had briefly settled the dispute.
March license fight
In March, Foxborough’s Select Board members threatened to withhold the entertainment license needed for the seven matches at Gillette Stadium unless the Kraft Group paid $7.8 million up front for security costs. That standoff was resolved after the Kraft Group pledged to underwrite those security costs, but the new suit says the town returned to the same pressure point with the April renewal.
The complaint lands on the same day a World Cup match in Foxborough between Iraq and Norway was played, underscoring how closely the licensing fight sits alongside the stadium’s tournament schedule.
Foxborough response
Foxborough said in a statement posted to its website that it had implemented provisions requiring Kraft Sports & Entertainment to reimburse the town for vital public safety and other municipal services needed to support events at Gillette Stadium. The town said those services are intended to protect public health and safety and ensure it is prepared to manage large-scale events.
It also said residents should not be asked to subsidize the municipal costs tied to privately operated events, and said the license conditions were carefully crafted to protect fans, concert-goers, employees, and area residents. For the Kraft side, the immediate issue is not just the size of the bill but whether the town can attach those costs to the entertainment license at all.
