$7.8 million in federal money<\/a> earmarked for security at World Cup matches. That money was delayed in getting to Foxborough amid a congressional funding freeze. Without the money, the town drew a hard line, threatening to withhold the necessary licensing needed for Gillette Stadium and Kraft Sports Entertainment LLC to host World Cup games in the town.<\/p>\nKraft was the chairman of the body committee that helped bring the World Cup to North America. Gillette Stadium, which Kraft financed and owns, was awarded seven World Cup matches. Kraft stepped in at the last minute, according to the town, to get a deal across the finish line in March by underwriting the $7.8 million owed to the town while awaiting the federal money to arrive. After that, Kraft Sports Entertainment and Gillette Stadium were awarded the necessary licensing to host the World Cup.<\/p>\n
But now the Patriots are arguing that the licensing has come with unlawful fees.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese new fees are to be in addition to the hundreds of thousands of dollars of improper administrative fees and related levies that Foxborough was previously charging Plaintiffs,\u201d the Patriots\u2019 complaint reads.<\/p>\n
The Patriots have played at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough since 2002.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor 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,\u201d read a statement from a stadium spokesperson. \u201cEarlier this year, the Town renewed the stadium\u2019s annual event license on significantly different terms. Since that occurred, stadium management has met with the Chairman of the Board of Selectmen and other Town leaders to learn the reasons for the modifications and to work towards an amendment to the stadium lease that would build upon our decades-long partnership. Those negotiations remain ongoing. Under the laws of the Commonwealth, the stadium must appeal legal issues with an event license within a specified time period in order to preserve its rights. While this appeal makes its way through the legal system, we intend to continue to work together with Town leaders to address these issues fairly for all.\u201d<\/p>\n
The town responded with a four-paragraph statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cSecurity needs for stadium events are growing increasingly complex, and the conditions of the license issued by the Select Board were carefully crafted to ensure the health and safety of fans, concert-goers, employees, and area residents,\u201d Foxborough\u2019s statement said in part. \u201cThroughout discussions with Kraft Sports + Entertainment\u2019s representatives, the Town\u2019s position has remained consistent: Foxborough residents should not be asked to subsidize the municipal costs associated with privately operated events. This position is also reflected in the Town\u2019s long-term lease of the stadium land, under which the Kraft Group, as lessee, has agreed to bear such costs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gillette Stadium, which is being referred to as Boston Stadium by FIFA during the World Cup, hosted the second of its seven World Cup matches Tuesday night when Norway defeated Iraq 4-1. Kraft was in his usual suite inside the stadium watching the match.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A rift between Robert Kraft\u2019s New England Patriots and the town of Foxborough, Mass., ramped up on Monday…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":921018,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2050],"tags":[73628,7,1167,249,2326,2094,6,208],"class_list":["post-921017","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-england-patriots","tag-fifa-mens-world-cup","tag-football","tag-new-england","tag-new-england-patriots","tag-newengland","tag-newenglandpatriots","tag-nfl","tag-patriots"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116763489991266021","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/921017","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=921017"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/921017\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/921018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=921017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=921017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=921017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}