New England Patriots and Robert Kraft filed a complaint on Monday alleging the Town of Foxborough improperly charged about $1 million in administrative fees tied to a license to host World Cup matches at Gillette Stadium. The filing escalates a licensing fight that already forced Kraft to underwrite $7.8 million in March to keep the World Cup plans on track.
Robert Kraft and the Complaint
The Patriots wrote that Foxborough exceeded its authority by imposing fees beyond what state law permits, noting the town only has state authorization to charge up to $100 per year to renew stadium entertainment licenses. The complaint states that the Foxborough Select Board "imposed these new charges without seeking comment from Foxborough’s residents and without presenting any witnesses or evidence, despite the fact that state law required the Select Board to act in a ‘quasi-judicial’ capacity and afford Plaintiffs due process before adding conditions to the Stadium’s longstanding entertainment license."
Foxborough Select Board’s New Charges
Foxborough, for its part, framed the new terms as a cost-recovery step, saying the license requires Kraft Sports Entertainment to "to reimburse the Town for vital public safety" services needed for events at Gillette Stadium. A stadium spokesperson pushed back with two points: "For more than two decades, the Town of Foxborough and Gillette Stadium have worked cooperatively and thoughtfully to license events at Gillette Stadium, contributing to the success of the stadium, the Town, and the region" and "Earlier this year, the Town renewed the stadium’s annual event license on significantly different terms."
Gillette Stadium and World Cup License
Disagreements flared in March over $7.8 million in federal money earmarked for security at World Cup matches; that federal money was delayed by a congressional funding freeze and, without it, the town threatened to withhold the licensing needed to host matches. Kraft stepped in in March to underwrite the $7.8 million owed to the town while awaiting federal money, after which Kraft Sports Entertainment and Gillette Stadium were awarded the licensing to host seven World Cup matches.
Kraft’s decision to underwrite $7.8 million and the Patriots’ subsequent complaint now put a court in the center of whether Foxborough’s newer, larger administrative charges — roughly $1 million in the aggregate — will stand. The filing asks a tribunal to reject the town’s approach to event-related fees and to enforce the statutory $100-per-year renewal cap the Patriots say applies.
