Meeting on Conn. Stadium Held
Saturday, May 30, 1998
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) -- A proposal to build a domed football stadium in Hartford has attracted the attention of pro football and the owner of the New England Patriots, according to a report published Saturday.
NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue and Patriots owner Robert Kraft met this week with Governor John G. Rowland and the leader of the stadium plan, Robert Fiondella, president of the Phoenix Home Life Mutual Insurance Co.
Kraft also met with Rowland at the state Capitol earlier this month and consulted with architects from the firm HOK Sport, one of the prime developers of football stadium, the Hartford Courant reported, citing unidentified sources. That occurred just before the end of the legislative session, when lawmakers approved money for plan, the Hartford Courant reported, citing sources the newspaper did not identify.
Spokesmen for Rowland, the Patriots and the NFL refused to comment on what happened during Wednesday's meeting at Phoenix's headquarters, which overlooks the site of the proposed $1 billion Adriaen's Landing development.
Hartford has had plans before, only to have the Patriots remain in Massachusetts.
In 1993, the Legislature approved plans for a $252.1 million stadium if the Patriots agreed to come to Connecticut. Then Kraft bought the team and decided to keep it at the Foxboro Stadium, which he owns.
``If it's going to develop, it's going to have to develop very quickly,'' said House Speaker Thomas Ritter, who has pushed for the state to build a stadium so the University of Connecticut can upgrade its football program to Division 1-A.
``I'm certainly not going to allow Hartford to be used in negotiating again,'' Ritter said. ``We went through a painful process last time.''
The downtown redevelopment proposal includes a domed stadium near the Connecticut River that could be expanded to 50,000 seats. The plan also envisions a convention center, a cinema, shopping, restaurants, an indoor sports complex and other attractions.
Kraft has been seeking a new home for the Patriots, but plans to build a new stadium in both South Boston and in Providence, R.I., have been shelved.
Rowland has said he does not want Connecticut to be used as a bargaining chip if the Patriots have no intention of moving here.
Rowland, Pats: It's A Deal
By CHRIS KEATING,
MIKE SWIFT
and RICK GREEN
This story ran in the Hartford Courant November 19, 1998
Patriots owner Robert Kraft is expected to shake hands with Gov. John G. Rowland in the state Capitol this morning and announce a deal to bring the NFL franchise to Hartford, a source close to the governor said.
Rowland and Kraft spoke three times Wednesday night and negotiators for both sides worked into the early hours this morning to finalize the terms of the deal.
An 11 a.m. press conference is scheduled at the Capitol to announce the plans, which require legislative approval to move the team to a $350 milion riverfront stadium as part of the proposed Adriaen's Landing project.
More than two dozen Hartford politicians and business leaders listened at the governor's residence earlier Wednesday as Rowland confidently described his talks with Kraft, and they got to view an architect's drawings of an open-air National Football League stadium.
The renderings show a stadium that would be the heart of the proposed $1 billion-plus Adriaen's Landing riverfront entertainment project. The project would include a major convention center, shopping and other entertainment attractions -- and now be linked to a proposed hotel financed and owned by Kraft, said officials who attended the meeting.
Meanwhile, Rowland's and Kraft's negotiators continued working behind the scenes Wednesday, crunching numbers on a stadium that would be financed by state taxpayers and through surcharges on stadium tickets, as well as economic concessions by Kraft.
"It's not going to be an agreement where the state loses money," said Dean Pagani, Rowland's spokesman. "Taxing tickets is a common practice when it comes to building stadiums."
In addition to building the hotel, Kraft would be required to move his football team's offices to Connecticut, where top team officials would pay income taxes. Kraft also might be required to move a soccer team -- he owns two Major League Soccer franchises -- at some future date into the stadium in order to ensure the building would be used more frequently, officials said.
Rowland is anxious to get Kraft's signature on an agreement as soon as today, said several sources close to the talks who requested anonymity.
If Kraft signs the document, it would reportedly prevent him from negotiating with other suitors in Massachusetts, Rhode Island or elsewhere.
The goal is to trump Massachusetts before Bay State power brokers wake up to the threat to their NFL franchise, and to stake Hartford's claim before the NFL seriously begins considering moving the Patriots to bigger cities that have lost teams, such as Los Angeles and Houston.
Kraft has told Connecticut officials that other NFL owners will not block a move to Hartford, Rowland revealed to the business and political leaders. Kraft was at the NFL offices in New York Wednesday, attending a previously scheduled meeting with several other owners, discussing issues that included expansion presentations from Los Angeles and Houston.
Massachusetts House Speaker Thomas Finneran, meanwhile, called a press conference Wednesday to say he was not budging from his stance limiting how much his state would offer to the Patriots owner on financing infrastructure improvements at outdated Foxboro Stadium.
Any agreement Connecticut reaches with Kraft would have to be approved by the legislature, presumably in a special session that would be held before the end of December -- before the Massachusetts legislature reconvenes.
In Connecticut, Rowland would have the delicate political job of selling downstate legislators on state financing for a Hartford stadium, after the General Assembly approved $300 million in development money for Hartford earlier this year.
Outgoing House Speaker Thomas D. Ritter said after Wednesday's summit meeting at the governor's mansion that he hoped final approval would come "while I'm still in office," until just after the new year.
Hartford has been the jilted bride at the altar by major league hockey and football owners so many times now that even the most hopeful officials had to defend their optimism Wednesday.
Some say they fear that Connecticut is just being used as a bargaining chip for a better deal in Massachusetts, but officials who attended Wednesday's meeting said Rowland assured them he is not a foil for Kraft's ambitions in Massachusetts.
"I don't have that sense at all," said Senate President Pro Tem Kevin B. Sullivan of West Hartford, the highest-ranking senator. "So far, my conversations with [Kraft and his son] suggest these are very good-faith discussions. The Krafts have other options. I don't think Massachusetts is one of them."
Huge obstacles remain to a Patriots deal -- the most obvious physical one being the need to relocate the giant steam plant along the Conland-Whitehead Highway that heats and cools most of downtown's big office buildings.
Even if that can be done, it will take at least three years to move the plant, clean up underground pollution at the site, and build a stadium of about 65,000 seats, said Arthur T. Anderson, chairman of the state Capital City Economic Development Authority.
The length of time raises the question of where the Patriots would play in the meantime. Could they remain as lame ducks in Foxboro that long? And what would happen to Foxboro Stadium, which is owned by Kraft? If the Patriots were to move to Hartford they would be designated a regional team by the NFL, meaning the league could not locate another team in Boston, NFL sources said.
Hartford leaders could not conceal their excitement Wednesday after the briefing by Rowland. And in a trail that leads from Hartford to Foxboro, there were signs Wednesday that key corporate leaders are not only backing Rowland's efforts, but actively helping the governor chart the negotiations with Kraft.
Most elected officials declined comment about the sensitive negotiations. Those who would talk said there is a more urgent tone this time, and they pointed to the idea of Kraft becoming an investor in Adriaen's Landing.
"For some reason it seems like there is a more real possibility right now. You know that Foxboro is obsolete and you have to do something in order to remain viable as an NFL franchise," said state Sen. Eric Coleman, D-Bloomfield.
"What makes this different than what has occurred in previous times is that there is actual dialogue going on between high-level officials of the state of Connecticut and the Patriots ownership, rather than a designee or a surrogate," Coleman said.
Kraft also is attracted to Adriaen's Landing as an entertainment project.
"Kraft likes it a lot," said Hartford Mayor Michael P. Peters. Rowland "is selling the state of Connecticut, and the city of Hartford at the same time."
One key executive at the center of the effort, business leaders said, is Roger Gelfenbien, managing partner of Andersen Consulting, who also is chairman of the University of Connecticut's board of trustees. An upgraded UConn football program would be a second tenant in the proposed stadium.
Gelfenbien said he expected that Hartford corporate leaders will soon be approached about commitments to lease luxury suites in an Adriaen's Landing football stadium.
The negotiations "appear to me to be very serious," Gelfenbien said. "I'm expecting that we'll be getting calls on [leasing skyboxes] very soon."
Robert W. Fiondella, chief executive officer of the Phoenix Home Life Insurance Co. and the man behind Adriaen's Landing, also is actively backing the inclusion of the Patriots in the riverfront project, Giorgio said.
Fiondella's chief architect for Adriaen's Landing, Bill Mead, left the governor's mansion Wednesday carrying new renderings of an NFL stadium as part of the project. Fiondella did not return numerous telephone calls Wednesday.
The proposed agreement appears to work hand in glove with evolving plans and the state's economic development program for a convention center and hotel at the Adriaen's Landing site.
As part of the state's "Six Pillars" $300 million development plan for Hartford, the legislature approved $155 million in taxpayer-financed bonding for a convention center and stadium, as well as the unlimited use of state revenue bonds that could be repaid by stadium and parking revenue. But no state bond money is available until $210 million in private investment -- including $40 million for a hotel -- is attracted to the project.
Kraft's investment in a hotel would appear to be a big step toward attracting the necessary private financing, something that could give Adriaen's Landing a big push forward.
"The signs have been good for the last few days," Sullivan said of the talks. "We're not chasing the Patriots. The governor has been clear that we are responding to their interest in Hartford. If they're interested in us, we're interested in talking to them."
Courant Staff Writer Ken Davis contributed to this story.
Foxboro Stadium appears set for new name
Gillette seen victor in bidding war for rights
By Meg Vaillancourt, Globe Staff, 8/23/2000
First it was Schaefer, then Sullivan, then Foxboro Stadium. Now New England Patriots fans will have to get used to a new stadium name: Gillette Stadium.
After months of intense negotiations, the Patriots today will announce an ''extremely lucrative'' naming-rights deal for their new $325 million football stadium in Foxborough, business sources said.
Team owner Robert Kraft and his son Jonathan declined to comment on the pending deal last night, and a team spokesman refused to reveal the identity of the company that had won the multimillion-dollar bidding war for the right to have its name emblazoned on the new stadium.
However, several Internet business sources said that David Wetherell, chief executive of the Andover-based Internet incubator Gillette Inc., sealed the stadium deal.
And the Associated press reports that New England Patriots Chairman and Owner Robert Krafts will hold a news conference on this morning to discuss the signing of a definitive naming-rights agreement for the team's new stadium.
Gillette was given the edge in part because of the company's reputation for innovation and its interest in raising its brand-name recognition.
The Krafts also are viewed as Internet-savvy entrepreneurs who want to offer fans a state-of-the-art facility and leverage their loyalty to the team into new business opportunities.
Gillette, for example, could help develop the ''smart seat'' technology the Krafts have suggested that they hope to provide. It would allow fans to check out player statistics and detail plays from stadium computers or via the Internet.
Several analysts noted that Jonathan Kraft was a pioneer in the NFL's use of Internet technology. The Patriots were the first NFL team on the Web.
The Krafts also put together an online marketplace venture for the paper industry, PaperExchange.com, which lists Wetherell among its investors and directors.
''The Krafts are viewed as very forward thinking, and when it comes to Internet-based technology, they are really pushing the envelope,'' said William Allard, president of SFX Sports Group, which has brokered several naming rights agreements.
''I think they would be very interested in not only creating new experiences for their fans, but also developing new businesses that integrate all of the in-stadium opportunities offered by the Patriots, the Revolution [soccer team], and concerts.''
The Krafts have been in talks with a number of companies interested in naming rights since the team secured the state and local approvals needed to build a new stadium late last year.
Other contenders included a Rhode Island computer parts company, American Power Conversion; international cell phone giant Nokia; an Internet job recruitment and career management Web site, Monster.com; FleetBoston Financial Corp. and British Airways.
Three of the companies have close ties to the Kraft family. Wetherell, for example, is a friend of Jonathan Kraft, as is the founder of Monster.com, Jeff Taylor. And FleetBoston is the team's banker.
Details of the Patriots/Gillette deal will be unveiled at a joint press conference in Boston this morning. The event will also be broadcast on the Patriot's Web site.
While no details were available last night on how much Gillette will pay for the naming rights, the current record was set by Federal Express, which recently paid $205 million for a 27-year deal with the Washington Redskins.
Others suggest the Patriots deal will be modeled on an agreement brokered by the Baltimore Ravens, who sold naming rights for PSINet Stadium for $105 million over 20 years to the Virginia-based computer services company.
''Naming rights now involve a lot more than just putting your name on a building,'' said sports marketing specialist Dean Bonham. ''The value of the PSINet stadium is actually greater than $105 million, because the Baltimore Ravens and the company started a new Internet service provider, and additional revenues flow back to the team from it.''
According to data collected by Chicago-based Team Marketing Report Inc., the value of naming rights partnerships for new major league venues has increased dramatically over the past two years.
The Patriots deal is also likely to put pressure on the Boston Red Sox, who are struggling to find more than $350 million in private financing for their proposed new ballpark. Although Red Sox chief executive John Harrington hoped to retain the name Fenway Park, he now concedes the team must sell naming rights for their new ballpark.
In a separate development, the Patriots reached a settlement with Phyllis Handy, the last resident of a trailer park on the site of the planned football stadium. The other 74 trailer park residents had already been bought out by the team or had relocated. A federal judge threw out a lawsuit brought by Handy against the team in July.
Gillette stakes identity on stadium deal: Major Internet player will invest $120M with Patriots to broaden brand awareness
by Greg Gatlin and Scott Van Voorhis
Thursday, August 24, 2000
An estimated $120 million deal to name the New England Patriots' 2002 home Gillette Stadium brought a mix of reactions yesterday from fans.
But on Wall Street, investors cheered news of the megadeal and bumped up Gillette Inc.'s beleaguered stock by 16 percent.
Still the question remained why Gillette, an Andover Internet investing firm which sells very little to the consuming public, would want to spend $7.6 million a year for 10 years and more for five years thereafter, to slap its logo on a football and soccer stadium.
Gillette executives said the stadium will be ground zero in a new effort to build brand awareness.
``Few people know who Gillette is,'' conceded company chief David Wetherell.
People queried at random in Boston yesterday seemed to confirm Wetherell's assessment.
``Sounds like a pregnancy test,'' said one man when asked about the name.
Gillette estimates the naming deal will generate more than 2.6 billion advertising impressions a year, giving it exposure across New England, and on national television, and even internationally.
Gillette isn't the first high-tech firm to use a naming rights deal to boost its image.
Sports marketing experts say a similar approach worked for 3Com Corp. which put its name on a San Francisco stadium and saw its ability to recruit workers, as well as its stock activity, surge.
Internet service provider PSINet Inc. was virtually unknown before its name went on Baltimore's football stadium.
``Today, they're much more well known,'' said Dean Bonham, who runs a sports marketing firm in Denver. ``This is the classic move we're going to see in naming rights deals, and there will be a lot of them.''
For the Patriots, Gillette brought more than just money to the table.
Patriots owner Robert Kraft said one company offered to pay more than Gillette. But Gillette's technology and Internet reach made the difference.
``We wanted to partner with a company that was involved in the creation of the new technology-driven economy,'' he said.
The team aims to use the broad reach of Gillette's Internet company network to build and connect with its fan base. Gillette's NaviSite hosts the Pats' Internet site, for instance.
Gillette's Activate subsidiary will handle Webcasts of Patriots news and special events. The Patriots even talked about adding ``smart seats'' one day, where fans could watch highlights, or dial up statistics from their seats.
``To set it up as more of a partnership...clearly the sponsorship works better that way for both parties,'' said Sean Brenner, managing editor with IEG Sponsorship Report.
Kraft's 15-year deal also lets the team look for an even more lucrative naming rights fees in 2017, when the Gillette deal expires, said Mark Ganis, president of Sports Corp. in Chicago.
No luxury, the Patriots say a naming rights deal was essential to efforts to privately finance their new, $325 million stadium.
``I think most of our fans would like to get their cold backsides off the benches in November and December and this (naming rights) was a critical step in making that possible,'' Kraft said.
A.J. O'Connell contributed to this report.
PATS CONSIDERING ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY IN NEW STADIUM
November 9, 2000
Copyright 2000 MediaVentures
The New England Patriots plan to build technology into their new Gillette Stadium and are working to make sure whatever they install does not quickly become obsolete.
While they plan the infrastructure, the team wants to give fans Internet access from their seats while allowing them to order food and other items to be delivered to them.
Kiosks may also be installed at the stadium that gives fans access to other information or entertainment features.
The team also suggests that all the high-tech wizardry might not be installed for the stadium's opening in 2002. Instead it may be tested on the suite and club levels
before going throughout the stadium.
January 7, 2001 From http://www.sportsbusinessnews.com
Gillette Stadium - By the Numbers: Now that the financing package has been
completed, the full cost for Gillette Stadium in Foxboro the New England Patriots
new home to Robert Kraft is far and away the most ever paid by an individual
team for stadium construction in any sport.
The San Francisco Giants borrowed $170 million to finance $330 million
Pacific Bell Park but Kraft raised $312 million through 25-year bonds
insured by Ambac Associates, making it only the third time in history a
sports facility deal is insured.
The state kicked in $72 million in infrastructure costs, but the Patriots
pay back $1 million a year for 25 years, and the NFL kicked in another $150
million from its stadium construction fund. That makes the total figure $430
million, approximately $90 million more than estimated. Although several
old-line owners, including most loudly the Cincinnati Bengals' Mike Brown,
stalled the deal's finalization with concerns about the rate of payback to
the league by the Patriots, the deal was finally closed just before the end
of the year. It was a unique plan never combined in sports financing,
according to NFL sources.
The final deal was negotiated by Jonathan Kraft, the owner's son, and
included both insuring the bonds and a swap with Salomon Smith Barney that
locked in the Patriots' interest rate for 25 years at just over 8 percent,
meaning Kraft will have a relatively fixed interest charge of $25
million-$26.5 million a year. Bond insurance for a sports facility had been
done only twice before - for American Airlines Arena and America West
Arena - because the best of credit ratings is demanded.
The bonds were sold on the short-term commercial paper market with the
highest credit rating possible, AAA. So while Gillette may be in trouble, the
Patriots' stadium financing package is not. (Thanks to Ron Borges and the
Boston Globe for this item).
Tuesday February 19, 2002
Demolition Begins At Foxboro Stadium
For more than 30 years, the New England Patriots have called Foxboro stadium home. But major demolition at the stadium begins Tuesday to clear way for the new CMGI field.
"Not a lot of great memorabilia here in this one, which makes it a lot easier for us to come in and knock it down," one construction worker said.
If you want a piece of Patriots' history -- it's for sale.
"Genuine bench seat from Foxboro Stadium, jars of dirt are exclusive to the online store," a team spokesman said.
Minor demolition began shortly after the last game was played in Foxboro one month ago. It was a game that no fan could forget. The game was played in a blizzard. It was a fairy tale game to put the Cinderella team on the road to the Super Bowl.
"Right now we are going to be knocking down the eastern seating bowl. The east side seating bowl of Foxboro stadium. We started the process last week. The east side will take a couple of weeks and then we will move over the west side. Between now and the end of April, we should have the rest of it knocked down," chief engineer Tim McManus said.
"We need the heavy equipment to take it down, but it should come do!
wn in the three month period, no problem," construction worker Chris Berardi said.
When the team returns next year, they'll play at the new Gillette Stadium next door -- where $325 million makes for the most expensive privately financed stadium ever built.
Chair-back seats will replace old aluminum benches. The new stadium will have 6,000 club seats and 2,000 luxury suite seats. Gillette will have 44 restrooms, compared to Foxboro's 20.
